Book No. 8 of 2020 ⭐️
I expected this book to be funny—which it is—but what surprised me was how heartfelt, insightful, and immediate Trevor Noah’s writing is. I don’t know why that surprised me, as you have to be really smart to be a good comedian, but there you go. I laughed at his stories and turns of phrase, but I also learned a lot about apartheid, the complexity of racial identity in South Africa, and the cycle of poverty and oppression. This was a standout read.
The book is a masterclass in illustrating the real, detrimental repercussions of racism. He explains, with scalpel-like precision, the ways in which colonialism and apartheid shaped his life in ways that clearly also apply to the US and other countries.
I won’t spoil it for you, but the end of Born a Crime devastatingly lays out the heartbreaking cost of the “black tax.”
Similar Reads
While the content is totally different, this reminded me of Ali Wong’s Dear Girls in that they’re both unflinching and truthful excavations of their author’s lived experiences (and, of course, are expertly dosed with humor).