Out today: 'Born a Crime: Stories from a South African childhood' by Trevor Noah

“A great entertainer” – The Times
“Insightful and entertaining” – the Guardian
“Slick, intelligent, blissfully funny” – Time Out

Set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African childhood (published by John Murray Press on Thursday 17 November, 2016; hardback RRP £20) is the compelling, inspiring, and often comic, coming of age story of Trevor Noah, one of the comedy world's brightest new voices.

Son of a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison, Trevor was living proof of his parents' indiscretion, kept mostly indoors for the first 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, take him away. 

A light-footed but sharpminded observer of the absurdities of politics, race and identity, Trevor shares jokes and insights drawn from the wealth of experience acquired in his relatively young life. 

A collection of eighteen personal stories, Born a Crime tells the story of a mischievous young boy growing into a restless young man as he struggles to find his place in a world where he was never supposed to exist. Born a Crime is equally the story of that young man's fearless, rebellious and fervently religious mother - a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence and abuse that ultimately threatens her own life. 

His stories weave together to form a personal portrait of an unlikely childhood in a dangerous time, as moving and unforgettable as the very best memoirs and as funny as Noah's own hilarious stand-up. Born a Crime is a must read.

About Trevor Noah: Trevor Noah is the host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show. He first joined the show as a contributor in 2014 and succeeded Jon Stewart as host in 2015. While The Daily Show has introduced Noah to an American audience, he's long been a popular comedian around the globe. Noah rose to stardom with The Racist, his one-man show at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which enjoyed a sold-out run and became one of the most talked-about shows at the festival that year. He made his US television debut that year on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and has also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, becoming the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on either late-night programme. He lives in New York.

For more information, email Christopher Bone at chrisb@fmcm.co.uk.