From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Loved this and highly recommend listening to the audiobook!!
Going in - I wasn’t too sure what to expect. A trusted friend recommended it so I went in without knowing much and expecting a fairly typical celebrity memoir. This was much more - I learned a lot more about Noah and also about growing up in South Africa.
The audiobook is performed by Trevor Noah - and I intentionally say performed because it’s more than being read. And hearing his inflections and accents really adds a whole extra layer ...more
Going in - I wasn’t too sure what to expect. A trusted friend recommended it so I went in without knowing much and expecting a fairly typical celebrity memoir. This was much more - I learned a lot more about Noah and also about growing up in South Africa.
The audiobook is performed by Trevor Noah - and I intentionally say performed because it’s more than being read. And hearing his inflections and accents really adds a whole extra layer ...more
My only exposure to Noah, like many, was The Daily Show and a Netflix special. I was surprised to discover how many blind assumptions I've made about him from those two sources. His clever voice comes through in his stories of struggle and triumph. An inspiring memoir of living through a time of great social and political change.
...more
This book has so much more insight and gravitas than I typically expect from a celebrity memoir. That I could fully relate to and be empathetic towards a childhood and culture that is so far removed from my daily existence is a tribute to Trevor Noah's storytelling ability, as well as his ability to synthesize the disparate nature of his childhood in South Africa and his adulthood as an international celebrity. If every American citizen read/listened to this book, we'd all have a better understa
...more
An eye-opening look into post-Apartheid South Africa, told with humor and heart. Technically this is a celebrity memoir since Trevor Noah is a celebrity on the Daily Show, but it's well-written and interesting and looks exclusively at Noah's childhood and teenagerhood, before he was really a celebrity. Born during Apartheid, Trevor was literally "born a crime" since it was a crime for a black person and a white person to be together and have a child. He speaks about race, poverty, and family tro
...more
Read Harder 2018 Challenge: A Celebrity Memoir
Lately, I've been reading a lot of books that shake my little bubble-worldview and make me realize, there's so much I don't know, and apartheid is one of those topics. Aside from being able to identify Nelson Mandela, half-reading "Cry the Beloved Country" in high school, the 80s song "Sun City", and a Disney channel movie called "The Color of Friendship", I realized I know very little about South Africa and apartheid. While this book isn't non-ficti ...more
Lately, I've been reading a lot of books that shake my little bubble-worldview and make me realize, there's so much I don't know, and apartheid is one of those topics. Aside from being able to identify Nelson Mandela, half-reading "Cry the Beloved Country" in high school, the 80s song "Sun City", and a Disney channel movie called "The Color of Friendship", I realized I know very little about South Africa and apartheid. While this book isn't non-ficti ...more
What a crazy life he has led and how different it is now! Interesting glimpse into a country and culture I know nothing about. It skips around a bit time wise which is a tad confusing, and it's not a very humorous story (only occasionally), but fascinating. I need a part 2 to learn how he left South Africa!
...more
So good! Listen to the audio if you can
Dec 28, 2016
Kirstin
marked it as to-read
Mar 15, 2017
Ms. McGregor
marked it as to-read
Aug 11, 2017
Marissa
marked it as to-read
Dec 04, 2017
Halsted Bernard
marked it as to-read
May 26, 2018
Anne
marked it as to-read
Jul 19, 2018
Chinoiseries
marked it as to-read
Jan 02, 2019
Brenda
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2019
Sandhya
marked it as to-read
Aug 01, 2019
Kim
marked it as to-read
