The New York Times Top 10 Bestseller The compelling; inspiring; (often comic) coming-of-age story of Trevor Noah; set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. One of the comedy world's brightest new voices; Trevor Noah is a light-footed but sharp-minded observer of the absurdities of politics; race and identity; sharing jokes and insights drawn from the wealth of experience acquired in his relatively young life. As host of the US hit show The Daily Show with Trevor Noah; he provides viewers around the globe with their nightly dose of biting satire; but here Noah turns his focus inward; giving readers a deeply personal; heartfelt and humorous look at the world that shaped him. Noah was born a crime; son of 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 first 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; take him away. A collection of eighteen personal stories; Born a Crime tells the story of a mischievous young boy growing into a restless young man as he struggles to find his place in a world where he was never supposed to exist. Born a Crime is equally the story of that young man's fearless; rebellious and fervently religious mother - a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty; violence and abuse that ultimately threatens her own life. 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; Noah illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and an unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a personal portrait of an unlikely childhood in a dangerous time; as moving and unforgettable as the very best memoirs and as funny as Noah's own hilarious stand-up. Born a Crime is a must read.