I'm a fan of The Daily Show, and I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it, but it wasn't until I watched Trevor Noah's latest Netflix special, Son of Patricia, that I finally bumped this book to the top of my to-read list. After watching him do stand-up, it's easy to imagine Trevor Noah's voice narrating each of the stories in this book, especially when there's dialogue. He uses some profanity, about the same as he uses in his stand-up.
True to its subtitle, the book focuses mostly on Trevor Noah's childhood, plus a few anecdotes from young adulthood. The book is organized by theme, not chronologically, so it sometimes feel disjointed as stories jump from childhood to adolescence back to childhood and then to young adulthood. Still, there's a storytelling arc that spans Trevor Noah's development as an individual, as he matures and comes to understand the world around him. The book just barely touches upon the fact that he eventually became a world-famous comedian; it doesn't at all address how he got into comedy or how his career came to be.
Trevor Noah discusses a number of heavy topics with just enough humor to bring perspective and entertainment while still allowing for the gravitas each subject deserves. He talks of race, identity, poverty, domestic violence, gun violence, police, prison, and healthcare. Mostly I was blown away by his account of living during apartheid in South Africa. Of course I knew apartheid existed, but I really did not understand the extent of how insanely unjust the system was, and how recently that system existed. This wasn't the mid-1800s, or even the 1950s, it was just a couple decades ago, in the years of my own youth. A worthy read if only for the educational value.
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