Born a Crime
2016
- apartheid
- performing arts
- humor
- television personalities
- personal memoirs
- performing arts / comedy
- biography & autobiography
- humor / form / essays
- essays
- comedy
The story
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.
What it’s like
Warm, conversational prose that reads like a friend leaning in to tell stories over a long dinner, with the comic timing of a stand-up set and sudden turns into sober candor. Its sensory world is South African township and city life in the 1980s and 1990s, rendered through small domestic details, crowded minibus taxis, and the rhythms of several languages moving through one household. The mood swings between bright, rueful humor and a quieter ache, so it suits a rainy Sunday with a cup of tea, a commute, or a stretch of evenings when you want to laugh and then be moved. The essays are short and episodic, so it can be picked up and put down easily. Its arc follows a clever, restless boy growing into a man, and his fierce, unconventional mother, whose relationship sits at the emotional center. Intensity is moderate and not gentle: there is domestic abuse, a shooting, an attempted kidnapping with a violent escape, and frank talk of poverty and racism under apartheid, all handled with humor but never softened. It is for readers who want memoir that is funny, honest and unsentimental about hard things.
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