#1 in Humour
Born a Crime
- 304
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 104 weeks on the list, peaked at #4
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Our view
Trevor Noah recounts a South African childhood that was, under apartheid law, illegal from the moment of his birth, and he does it as a comedian would: in stories that are funny first and sobering a beat later. The humour never hides how hard the circumstances were, and the family at the centre gives the book its warmth. Even readers who rarely get on with memoirs may find something of themselves in it.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is an autobiographical comedy book written by South African comedian Trevor Noah, published in 2016. The book focuses on Noah's childhood growing up in his native South Africa after he was born of an illegal interracial relationship during the apartheid era. The book was a bestseller and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 9.1 across 1,304 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 90% of the weight and the score stays at 8.9 — the Humour average of 7.8 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.1 | 65 | 5% |
| Hardcover | 9.1 | 1.2K | 95% |
Frequently asked
How long is Born a Crime?
It has 304 pages — longer than 57% of the ranked books in Humour.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Humour — with scores between 7.8 and 8.4, closest to this book.
