Trevor Noah, the guy I've seen behind the desk at The Daily Show, was born in South Africa. With a black African mother and a white Swiss father, his existence was a crime under apartheid. With humor and a vulnerable honesty, he paints a picture of a childhood in this world, where he is neither one nor the other, where he never truly knows where he belongs - except with his mom. As much as he drives her crazy (and vice versa), he always knows that he has a place with her. That relationship is at the heart of his story set in a world where the color of your skin will literally determine the life you are going to live.
My daughter read this book in college and wrote a paper on it - after reading her paper I decided I wanted to read it for myself. It's hard for us white people to really think hard about race and what it means, it requires taking a harsh, uncomfortable look at ourselves and our society. It's hard for me as an American to really understand apartheid - I have no memory of learning about it in school and even if I did, I know that the horror of it wasn't impressed upon me in any way I remember. I learned a lot about South African history that I think will stick. Noah spares nothing as he dissects his youth and its circumstances. Part of it is horrifying, truly disturbing. Other times I was laughing out loud, his antics are hilarious and the banter with his mom is delightful. I listened to this book on audio and I'm very glad I did - hearing him speak in the different dialects was a part of what I really enjoyed about it, his thoughts on language and culture really made me think. The only reason I'm giving it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that sometimes I felt the chronology could have been edited a bit better, but it didn't spoil it for me. He tells a fresh and important story here.
If you don't mind pretty strong language in your audiobooks, I highly recommend this one.
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