Book title: Born a Crime ISBN: 0889290936097 Author: Trevoh Noah Available at: Major bookstores

Born and raised in South Africa, Noah, who is now a millionaire making strides in the entertainment world in Hollywood where he found fame as the host of the popular Daily Show, takes readers through the experiences that shaped his life. Noah was raised in a township by her native mother, and from a young age, he saw how she struggled to make ends meet – to get them food, gas, pay rent and school fees. This motivated him to one day use his talents to make a better life. She lived with her single mother for a while, until into the picture came his stepfather, Abel, who he paints as having a hot temper. He always had to find his way around him. It didn’t help that as a ‘coloured’ (mixed-race) young man, he struggled with his identity and fitting in, and had his own share of bullying growing up. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, it would have been difficult to ignore the politics of race. Intimate relations between blacks and whites were forbidden (he was a product of such relations). Noah’s mother did a good job at raising and shielding him, ensuring that he is comfortable in his own skin and confident enough to face the world; a nononsense matriarch, she gave the best to his mother, something one gets the sense Noah will be eternally grateful for because she influenced him to make something of himself in a world that wanted to reject him based on the colour of his skin and genes. Which is just as well because if he were anyone else, he would have fallen by the wayside and taken to alcoholism, drugs, and other anti-social behaviour, but he used his experiences as motivation to make a better life for himself. This memoir is a generous reminder that success is at the fingertips of those who work hard to achieve their dreams, make sacrifices and use their upbringing as a point of reference, not expression of shame. Noah’s story serves as inspiration for anyone who is ambitious and has big dreams for themselves in this life. This book is easy to read as it is written in a way that it feels like having an open and candid conversation with a close friend who is a compelling storyteller. The dose of comic relief peppered through the book makes it an even more of an appealing read.