남아프리카공화국 출신 코미디언이자 미국 정치 풍자 뉴스 프로그램 <더 데일리 쇼>의 진행자인 트레버 노아의 자전적 에세이. 아파르트헤이트 체제하 남아공에서 인종 간 성관계는 5년 이하의 징역형에 처해지는 범죄 행위였다. 코사족 흑인 어머니와 스위스인 백인 아버지 사이에서 태어난 트레버 노아는 부모의 범죄를 증명하는 가장 확실한 증거가 되었다. 

태어난 게 범죄였던 트레버 노아의 어린 시절은 가난한 생활과 계부의 학대로 점철되었다. 하지만 그는 결코 웃음을 잃지 않았다. 오히려 아픔을 웃음으로 승화시키는 탁월한 능력을 가지고 있었다. 그리고 그의 곁에는 항상 엄마가 있었다. 때로는 매를 들고, 때로는 무한한 긍정의 힘으로, 묵묵히 아들의 삶을 올바른 방향으로 이끌었다.

트레버는 결국 자신이 가장 잘하는 일을 찾았다. 누군가의 물건을 빼앗는 대신 사람들에게 웃음을 나눠주기로 했다. 코미디언으로서 한창 이름을 알리고 있을 때, 트레버는 한 통의 연락을 받는다. 계부가 엄마의 머리에 총을 쐈다는 것이다.

이 책은 트레버 노아라는 한 개인의 삶을 통해 아파르트헤이트 남아공의 참상과 폭력, 학대의 민낯을 보여준다. 동시에 절망 속에서도 웃음을 잃지 않고 사랑과 용기로 뭉친 가족과, 자아를 찾아가는 한 소년의 여정을 공유한다. 그 누구의 삶보다 슬픈, 하지만 그 누가 들려주는 것보다 웃긴 이야기를 통해 우리는 삶에 대한 의미를 되새길 수 있을 것이다.

 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 

• The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New York Times • USA Today • San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • Esquire • Newsday • Booklist

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.

Praise for <Born a Crime>

 “[A] compelling new memoir . . . By turns alarming, sad and funny, [Trevor Noah’s] book provides a harrowing look, through the prism of Mr. Noah’s family, at life in South Africa under apartheid. . . . Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author’s remarkable mother.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“[An] unforgettable memoir.”—Parade

 “What makes Born a Crime such a soul-nourishing pleasure, even with all its darker edges and perilous turns, is reading Noah recount in brisk, warmly conversational prose how he learned to negotiate his way through the bullying and ostracism. . . . What also helped was having a mother like Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah. . . . Consider Born a Crime another such gift to her—and an enormous gift to the rest of us.”—USA Today

“[Noah] thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. . . . Their fierce bond makes this story soar.”—People