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Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Highest-rated new book of 2016 by Audible customers
Winner: Audible's Best of 2016 - Celebrity Memoirs
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical. Noah’s virtuoso embodiment of all the characters from his childhood, and his ability to perform accents and dialects effortlessly in English, Xhosa, and Zulu, garnered the Audie Award for Best Male Narrator in 2018. Nevertheless, Noah’s devoted and uncompromising mother—as voiced by her son—steals the show.
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Go Behind the Scenes of Born a Crime
The author’s gift for vocal impersonation elevates the audio version into something even more splendid than an already terrific memoir.
- The Washington Post
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Our favorite moments from Born a Crime

About the Author and Performer
Trevor Noah found fame as a comedian and TV personality in his native South Africa before becoming a household name in America as the host of The Daily Show. But before he found his gift for satire, he came of age as a storyteller during the waning days of apartheid and the tumultuous freedom that followed. In writing and performing Born a Crime—his first book—Trevor Noah can add “best-selling memoirist” and “audiobook narrator” to his list of hilarious-yet-heartfelt triumphs.
Read by the Author
Experience how special it can be to listen to a narrative exactly the way it was intended—read by their author.



A Born Storyteller
The Daily Show host and native South African talks about his engrossing new memoir, Born a Crime.Star-Powered Listens
From literary classics to celebrity memoirs, there's a star-studded listen for everyone in this handpicked collection.



What listeners say about Born a Crime
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vance Creekpaum
- 10-27-19
Everyone Should Listen to This
Wow! This is by far the best audiobook I’ve ever heard, and one of the best books I’ve ever read. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me think. Trevor brings such a unique world view, and even though his life was so much different than mine, there was still so much I could relate to. I learned so much listening to this, about apartheid, race, poverty, and the power of language.
Excellently performed, obviously. It feels less like a book and more like Trevor is just telling his story. I listened to the outhouse/blind grandma chapter while I was at the gym and I literally had to stop working out for a couple minutes because I was laughing so hard.
This is the gold standard of audiobooks. It’s 100% worth a listen, and a relisten. So good!
55 people found this helpful
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- Ralph de la fuente
- 09-17-19
AMAZING!
I love stories. I believe stories are what bring people together how we can learn to see the commonalities between us all. I loved This audio book! Trevor Noah takes us through is journey growing up the insights he learned from his family mainly his mother with a comedy twist at every corner and thoughtful wisdom throughout this book I highly recommend! Go ahead treat yourself to this audio book it's worth it guaranteed!
21 people found this helpful
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- MoFoYo
- 05-10-20
Eye opening and hilarious
couldn't get enough!! Wasn't ready for it to be over. his story telling is descriptive and makes you feel like you are standing right there with him, selling burned Cds
8 people found this helpful
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- Alfred Fredel
- 08-25-18
An interesting take on life yet a bit disturbing
As someone who is blind, I love audible because the books are narrated to me. I made this selection because I enjoy listening to the rider on his comedy show. He is very entertaining and can tell a good story. For the most part, I find his commentary is generally on point. This book gives you a glimpse into his mind and gives you a little background about the life that he has had while growing up in South Africa. I found the issues regarding domestic violence and his family situation to be quite disturbing, but I understand where his viewpoint is coming from because it was a very terrible situation. There were many things in the book that were quite funny and I enjoyed much of his narrative. I had a little bit of a problem with the story regarding the time where he was a DJ and had a lead dancer Who was given the name of Hitler. His explanation of the situation and the reason why this person was named after one of the most notorious people in history is uncomfortable. Other than these two things, I would recommend this book to others with the caveat that it might be a little much for some.
135 people found this helpful
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- Kierst Rabinowitz
- 03-30-17
Reviews were a bit misleading
Based on the reviews I read, I expected more. It wasn't a tragic life story, or super funny story.
It's an ok story.
Guess the hype, from the reviews, led me to hope for something more.
182 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-01-17
Too much profanity
Too much profanity when it wasn't necessary for the story. Overall very interesting life story.
112 people found this helpful
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- Thomas L. Piper
- 02-25-18
Fine but...
Noah is engaging. And his self-depreciating assessment of childhood is familiar to all who have experienced it, regardless of race or country. His observations on race in South Africa and the world over are insightful, but during one anecdote he essentially blames his two pet cats' natural temperament for their own sadistic murder, beheading and skinning at the hands of a superstitious neighbor. In that sense, it seems he may have learned a lot about people's nature, but not much about animals in general.
114 people found this helpful
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- Dianne Lipscomb
- 03-29-19
Read or not to read
If you have nothing else to do or to read then this book is for you. It was okay but nothing new here to learn.
95 people found this helpful
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- reviewer
- 02-04-17
Started out very interesting, but declined quickly
Liked the first couple of chapters, but could not finish the book. Dragged on with childhood stories that weren't very captivating.
129 people found this helpful
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- Marilyn Armstrong
- 12-15-16
Great book and perfect narration
I don't review a lot of books anymore, but this one got to me. There are lots of books written by people -- including me -- who had a hard time growing up. Abusive parents, poverty, oppression. War. There is a lot of awful stuff children endure.
Trevor Noah endured all of it. Name something bad that a kid can experience and it probably happened to him. Born under apartheid, his existence was illegal. His birth was, as the title of his book suggests, a crime.
As the child of a white father and a black mother under South Africa during apartheid, if he had been noticed by the authorities, they would have taken him from his family and put him ... somewhere. So merely surviving until the end of apartheid was no mean feat. Add to that extreme poverty, violence and life under the most oppressive, racist regime you can imagine. Actually, you may not be able to imagine it. I knew it was bad, but South Africa refined oppression into an art form.
One of the other noteworthy things about this book was that I learned great deal about things I thought I already knew. I don't know if Noah intended it as a cautionary tale, but it is. Chilling.
I didn't read the book. I listened to the audiobook because Noah reads it himself. He has a beautiful, melodic voice and a lovely cadence. It was a treat for my ears and my brain.
You might think with all of this terrible stuff -- and some of it is really horrific -- that this would be an angry, possibly embittered man. But he isn't.
He's funny when humor is possible. Even when he's serious, there is grace and wit -- plus a sweetness and generosity of spirit that's rather uplifting. I don't think I've ever said that about a book. It's not a word I use lightly. Trevor Noah is a rare person, able to appreciate the good stuff in his life and not obsess over the considerable amount of injustice he has experienced.
I'm not usually a big fan of celebrity memoirs or autobiographies, but this is exceptional. If you have the patience, listen to it as an audiobook. Otherwise, consider reading it. He's a smart guy, a good writer, and an astute observer of humanity, government, politics, and relationships. Insightful, witty, and entertaining, I highly recommend it.
958 people found this helpful
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- KM
- 10-16-17
EXCELLENT!!!!!!!
I'm so glad that Trevor Noah reads this book himself. He does voices for his family members and is SO funny!! A very entertaining look at what has been a pretty heavy and eventful life.