Trevor Noah has written an incredible book. I listened to him read the story of his childhood on the audiobook and it just made his story even more amazing. He talks about his childhood growing up in South Africa explaining the incredible segregation between not only black and white, but also the prejudice against "colored" people, who are born of mixed heritage.
I love watching Trevor Noah on late night television. His show is clever and he is such a cute young man. I also love listening to him at night and on the audible book, his voice has such a soft lilting cadence and wonderful accent to it.
What a life story he has lived in such a short time. He has become so successful, but that is not what the book is about at all. the book takes us back to his childhood, growing up with a black mother and a white father, who is not really involved in his upbringing. He describes all the members of his family, from his mother, to his aunts and uncles and cousins in such a colorful manner. They are all interesting characters. His mother is very religious, believing that her faith will carry her through any disaster or trouble in her life. He has two half brothers , when his mother marries another black man. This man is abusive to his mother and he spends his youth defending and protecting her.
He runs with a rough group of boys for a while as a teenager. he gets into trouble along the way, but always seems to land on his feet. Some of the time it seems like he is just lucky. Other times it could be his easy going personality helps him win people over.
He has lived through things our children here in America will never have to experience. He has amazingly come out of it all to be very successful. He has experienced hatred, and bigotry, physical abuse and even a stint in jail. But the man you see on television seems like such a sweet likeable person, it is hard to imagine the life he describes in this book.
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