Trevor Noah, comedian and host of “The Daily Show,” reads his own engaging, substantive account of growing up in Johannesburg under apartheid and the years following.
Noah is the son of a Xhosa mother and a Swiss father — both of whom could have been imprisoned for the crime of interracial sexual relations.
A social misfit, Noah made his way out of poverty and some danger through entrepreneurial ingenuity, comic genius and an ability to speak a number of tribal languages, which he gives marvelous voice to here.
Above all, Noah owes his success to the unfailing support of his mother, the real hero of the book. Forging her own small independence against all odds, she insisted that Noah learn English, and she sacrificed her small wages for his education: “She was preparing me to live a life of freedom long before we knew freedom would exist.”
Noah combines personal stories with political and historical observations, bringing his own acute judgment, sardonic humor and sense of the absurd to bear on both. The stories vary from descriptions of sickening injustice and brutality to his youthful awkwardness with girls and high-spirited adventures.
The author’s gift for vocal impersonation elevates the audio version into something even more splendid than an already terrific memoir.
The host of The Daily Show With Trevor Noah traces his wild coming of age during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed, offering insight into the farcical aspects of the political and social systems of today's world.