Born a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (2016, Hardcover)

Quality Books and Music for All (2244)
100% positive feedback
Price:
US $21.79
(inclusive of GST)
ApproximatelyS$ 27.99
+ $28.96 shipping
Estimated delivery Tue, 2 Sep - Thu, 11 Sep
Returns:
30 days return. Buyer pays for return shipping. If you use an eBay shipping label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.
Condition:
Good

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
ISBN-100399588175
ISBN-139780399588174
eBay Product ID (ePID)221471914

Product Key Features

Book TitleBorn a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood
Number of Pages304 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2016
TopicCultural Heritage, Sociology / General, Personal Memoirs, Parenting / Motherhood, Comedy, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Africa / South / Republic of South Africa, Form / Essays
IllustratorYes
GenreFamily & Relationships, Performing Arts, Social Science, Biography & Autobiography, Humor, History
AuthorTrevor Noah
FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in
Item Weight18.8 Oz
Item Length9.6 in
Item Width6.4 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2016-031399
Dewey Edition23
Reviews"A soul-nourishing pleasure . . . an enormous gift." -- USA Today "By turns alarming, sad and funny . . . not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author's remarkable mother." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "You'd be hard-pressed to find a comic's origin story better than the one Trevor Noah serves up in Born a Crime . . . . Witty truth-telling . . . brilliant comedy." -- O: The Oprah Magazine "Remarkable . . . smart . . . extraordinary . . . essential reading on every level." -- The Seattle Times "[Noah] thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. . . . Their fierce bond makes this story soar." -- People "When I think of Trevor Noah, the first image I see is from his brilliant memoir, Born a Crime, of Trevor's mother throwing him out of a moving vehicle while he's asleep in order to save his life. Through other eyes this could be remembered as traumatic and harrowing. Through Trevor's it is bonding and hilarious, a testament to the love of someone who truly had to think on their feet. That is how Trevor sees the world. A fantastic storyteller, he has always been a defier of rules, which he broke simply by being born in his native country." --Lupita Nyong'o, Time "Noah's not the main character in his own story--his mother is the constant . . . and by the end, Noah lovingly makes clear that the book belongs to her. . . . Noah proves to be a gifted storyteller, able to deftly lace his poignant tales with amusing irony." -- Entertainment Weekly "[An] unforgettable memoir." -- Parade "This isn't your average comic-writes-a-memoir: It's a unique look at a man who is a product of his culture--and a nuanced look at a part of the world whose people have known dark times easily pushed aside." -- Refinery29 "[Noah's] electrifying memoir sparkles with funny stories . . . and his candid and compassionate essays deepen our perception of the complexities of race, gender, and class." -- Booklist (starred review) "Powerful prose . . . told through stories and vignettes that are sharply observed, deftly conveyed and consistently candid. Growing organically from them is an affecting investigation of identity, ethnicity, language, masculinity, nationality and, most of all, humanity." -- Mail & Guardian (South Africa) "[Noah's] story of surviving--and thriving--is mind-blowing." -- Cosmopolitan "Noah has a real tale to tell, and he tells it well. . . . Among the many virtues of Born a Crime is a frank and telling portrait of life in South Africa during the 1980s and '90s." -- Newsday "An affecting memoir, Born a Crime [is] a love letter to his mother." -- The Washington Post "Witty and revealing . . . Noah's story is the story of modern South Africa." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review), "[A] substantial collection of staggering personal essays . . . Incisive, funny, and vivid, these true tales are anchored to his portrait of his courageous, rebellious, and religious mother who defied racially restrictive laws to secure an education and a career for herself--and to have a child with a white Swiss/German even though sex between whites and blacks was illegal. . . . [Trevor Noah's] electrifying memoir sparkles with funny stories . . . and his candid and compassionate essays deepen our perception of the complexities of race, gender, and class." -- Booklist (starred review)   "A gritty memoir . . . studded with insight and provocative social criticism . . . with flashes of brilliant storytelling and acute observations." -- Kirkus Reviews
Dewey Decimal791.4502/8092 B
Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - More than one million copies sold! A "brilliant" (Lupita Nyong'o, Time ), "poignant" ( Entertainment Weekly ), "soul-nourishing" ( USA Today ) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid "Noah's childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa's history that must never be forgotten."-- Esquire Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and an NAACP Image Award - Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Time, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Esquire, Newsday, and Booklist Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love., #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * More than one million copies sold! A "brilliant" (Lupita Nyong'o, Time ), "poignant" ( Entertainment Weekly ), "soul-nourishing" ( USA Today ) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid "Noah's childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa's history that must never be forgotten."-- Esquire Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and an NAACP Image Award * Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Time, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Esquire, Newsday, and Booklist Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love., #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed NAMED ONE OF PASTE 'S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New York Times - USA Today - San Francisco Chronicle - NPR - Esquire - Newsday - Booklist Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love. Praise for Born a Crime " A] compelling new memoir . . . By turns alarming, sad and funny, Trevor Noah's] book provides a harrowing look, through the prism of Mr. Noah's family, at life in South Africa under apartheid. . . . Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author's remarkable mother." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times " An] unforgettable memoir." -- Parade "What makes Born a Crime such a soul-nourishing pleasure, even with all its darker edges and perilous turns, is reading Noah recount in brisk, warmly conversational prose how he learned to negotiate his way through the bullying and ostracism. . . . What also helped was having a mother like Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah. . . . Consider Born a Crime another such gift to her--and an enormous gift to the rest of us." --USA Today " Noah] thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. . . . Their fierce bond makes this story soar." --People
LC Classification NumberPN2287.N557A3 2016

All listings for this product

Buy It Now
Any Condition
New
Pre-owned
No ratings or reviews yet
Be the first to write a review