Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor NoahMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Month Read In: February 2022
Challenge:
The Uncorked Librarian February 2022: South Africa
The Uncorked Librarian February 2021: Contemporary Black Author
I signed up for Audible, just to get access to this audiobook since I didn't wanna wait around for my library's copy to become available. Also, please be aware that I really knew nothing about Trevor Noah before this other than he isn't American (didn't know where he was from, just knew he wasn't born in the US), he is a comedian with one of the late-night faux news programs (did it used to be hosted by Jon Stewart?), and that he loves his mama.
That being said, I knew he was funny. Funny in the cerebral way. Funny in a way that makes you think. He can switch from super funny to super serious and wise in an instant. But since I still use rabbit ears for television and don't stay up late, I only see his videos in YouTube clips, and usually when I'm searching up some other famous person's videos.
So going into this, I knew very little. I have been working through several reading challenges over the past two years and this book satisfied The Uncorked Librarian challenge for February this year and last year. (Yes, challenges should be done in the actual year, but bite me.) That meant that since 2022's February prompt was "about South Africa" and 2021 was "Contemporary Black Author", and this book was in TUL's recommended books for both prompts, I was good to go.
Using Book Roast's CAWPILE rating system with my Nonfiction modifications (she just published her own), I rated the book as follows:
Clarity: 8 [The back and forth throughout the story of his life threw me and it was sometimes hard to keep up.]
Authenticity: 9 [This sharing of himself was eye-opening, but even he says in the book that his experience is very different from the stories of other South Africans.]
Writing: 9 [Trevor is funny in life and in word, but also profoundly wise. He wrapped it all back up in a bow where I felt a part of the human experience and like I had been cracked open to feel.]
Presentation: 6.5 [Again, all the back and forth was really hard. The whole book was anecdotal, some of the chapter titles not making any sense until you get to the end of that chapter's tangents. But I listened to the audiobook with Trevor himself narrating, so it was still enjoyable!]
Intrigue: 10 [I said I didn't know a lot about him, right? Color me intrigued, that he went through all this and came out with the humor that he has and the ability to make others' lives better and does so every chance he gets.]
Logic: 7 [The bouncing around, man! By the time we got to the second half, or last third, the connections back to previous stories started to make sense and I felt like I knew who he was talking about and there was no need to 'flip' back to go, "who was that again?"]
Enjoyment: 8 [I'm not big on memoirs or biographies or autobiographies. In my adult life I think I've only read now 2 or 3. The other one I can think of is Elton John's from a couple years ago with Taron Edgerton narrating and Elton himself making an appearance. I rarely want a reality check. But for a memoir, this was pretty darn good.]
Goodreads will only let me do a 4 star rating, but it actually comes out to a 4.5 star rating, so it's a 4, but a very HIGH 4.
View all my reviews
That being said, I knew he was funny. Funny in the cerebral way. Funny in a way that makes you think. He can switch from super funny to super serious and wise in an instant. But since I still use rabbit ears for television and don't stay up late, I only see his videos in YouTube clips, and usually when I'm searching up some other famous person's videos.
So going into this, I knew very little. I have been working through several reading challenges over the past two years and this book satisfied The Uncorked Librarian challenge for February this year and last year. (Yes, challenges should be done in the actual year, but bite me.) That meant that since 2022's February prompt was "about South Africa" and 2021 was "Contemporary Black Author", and this book was in TUL's recommended books for both prompts, I was good to go.
Using Book Roast's CAWPILE rating system with my Nonfiction modifications (she just published her own), I rated the book as follows:
Clarity: 8 [The back and forth throughout the story of his life threw me and it was sometimes hard to keep up.]
Authenticity: 9 [This sharing of himself was eye-opening, but even he says in the book that his experience is very different from the stories of other South Africans.]
Writing: 9 [Trevor is funny in life and in word, but also profoundly wise. He wrapped it all back up in a bow where I felt a part of the human experience and like I had been cracked open to feel.]
Presentation: 6.5 [Again, all the back and forth was really hard. The whole book was anecdotal, some of the chapter titles not making any sense until you get to the end of that chapter's tangents. But I listened to the audiobook with Trevor himself narrating, so it was still enjoyable!]
Intrigue: 10 [I said I didn't know a lot about him, right? Color me intrigued, that he went through all this and came out with the humor that he has and the ability to make others' lives better and does so every chance he gets.]
Logic: 7 [The bouncing around, man! By the time we got to the second half, or last third, the connections back to previous stories started to make sense and I felt like I knew who he was talking about and there was no need to 'flip' back to go, "who was that again?"]
Enjoyment: 8 [I'm not big on memoirs or biographies or autobiographies. In my adult life I think I've only read now 2 or 3. The other one I can think of is Elton John's from a couple years ago with Taron Edgerton narrating and Elton himself making an appearance. I rarely want a reality check. But for a memoir, this was pretty darn good.]
Goodreads will only let me do a 4 star rating, but it actually comes out to a 4.5 star rating, so it's a 4, but a very HIGH 4.
View all my reviews
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