Trevor Noah Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Trevor Noah is a renowned South African television host, comedian, actor, political commentator, producer, and writer of nonfiction, humor, and cultural stories and memoirs. He is popular for hosting the satirical news program called The Daily Show on the American TV channel Comedy Central. As a writer, he has achieved critical acclaim for his comedy book called Born a Crime, which is also his autobiography. Trevor was born in Johannesburg. He began his career in 2002 in South Africa by working in multiple fields as an actor, television host, and comedian. Since then, he has hosted several programs for the SABC. In 2008, Trevor was a participant in the fourth season of a comedy show based on Strictly Come Dancing, where he was the runner-up. Between 2010 and 2011, Trevor worked as the host and creator of a talk show called Tonight with Trevor Noah that was aired on DStv and M-Net. After gaining international success as a stand-up comedian, Trevor started appearing in late-night talk shows in the US. In 2014, he was chosen as The Daily Show’s Senior International Correspondent.

A year later, Trevor succeeded the show’s long-time host, Jon Stewart, and obtained a contract to continue hosting the show until 2022. Over the years, Trevor has won many accolades for his wide range of work. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award nine times and was able to it recently. In 2018, he was listed as among the top 100 influential people of the world by Time magazine. Trevor was born on February 20, 1984. His mother belongs to the Xhosa ancestry, while his father has Swiss ancestry. Trevor has said in an interview that his mother had accepted Judaism when he was around 10 years old, however, she did not force him to get converted. Under the legislation of apartheid, Trevor’s mother was identified as black, while his father was listed as white. But, he was labeled as Colored. Trevor has highlighted the fact in his autobiography that when he was born, the interracial relationship of his parents was illegal as per the apartheid law. It was only a year after his birth that interracial marriages and sexual relations were decriminalized in South Africa following the amendment of the Immorality Act in 1985.

Trevor was brought up by his mother Patricia and maternal grandmother Nomalizo Frances Noah in Soweto township of black people. Trevor completed his schooling at Maryvale College, a private high school for Roman Catholics in Johannesburg. He is a polyglot and is able to speak multiple languages, including Afrikaans, English, Tsanga, Zulu, German, Tswana, and Xhosa. In 1992, his mother married Ngisaveni Shingange. They became parents to two sons named Isaac and Andrew. While growing up, Trevor and his mom were physically abused by Shingange, leading to a divorce between Patricia and Shingange in 1996. When Patricia got married again in 2009, Shingange tried to kill her by shooting her two times. She was lucky to survive the attack, but was left with injuries in the head and leg. Trevor confronted Shingange about the attack over the phone, but received life threats from him instead. This forced him to move to Los Angeles. Two years later, Shingange was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for attempted murder.

After the sentencing, Trevor hoped that it could create awareness of the domestic violence issue prevalent widely in South Africa. He likes to describe himself as a person with a global perspective and a progressive approach. However, he likes to stay away from politics and doesn’t want to be categorized as a left or right sympathizer. In 2018, Trevor laid the foundation of the Trevor Noah Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Johannesburg that helps vulnerable youth and orphans with life skills, education, and all the necessary help for pursuing further opportunities. As of today, Trevor lives in New York City. In January 2016, Trevor announced that he has been contacted by Spiegel & Gau for a book contract. Later that year, he successfully published his first book in the form of an autobiography. The book was well-received by most of the major book reviewers in the United States.

In addition to himself, Trevor has given a central role to his mother in the book. Also, there are occasional mentions of his European dad. The book went on to become a number one bestseller in the NY Times. Several major magazines, including Booklist, NY Times, Esquire, Newsday, and NPR, listed it among the best books of that year. Following the book’s worldwide success, Trevor announced that a movie is being made based on it. Lupita Nyong’o was chosen to play the role of Trevor’s mother as well as being the co-producer alongside him. At the start of 2018, Trevor declared that he was thinking of writing another book. Subsequently, he released a book comprising of numerous tweets by Donal Trump later in the year. In other fields of works, Trevor has made small appearances in American Vandal and Black Panther and on Nashville. In many of his interviews, he has claimed that he was highly influenced by Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby for the comedic influences. Other people who have had a major impact on his work and overall development as a person include Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, etc. Likewise, his hard work, dedication, and success have also influenced other comedians such as Jordan Klepper, Hasan Minhaj, and Michelle Wolf.

Trevor’s debut book entitled ‘Born a Crime’ was released by Doubleday Canada in November 2016. It is set in Johannesburg and consists of stories from his childhood in South Africa. In this book, he has described a mischievous boy’s story, who grows to become a restless man in his youth while struggling to find a place for himself in the world. The book also deals with the young man’s bond with his rebellious, religious, and fearless mother. Trevor has mentioned how her mother was determined to save him from the cycle of violence, abuse, and poverty and put her own life in danger in doing so. He gives all the credit for his success to his mother and says that he would have not achieved anything in life if it would not have been for her selfless love and care for him. The story follows the mother-son pair’s struggle days during the apartheid in Africa and leads up to the tremendous success of Trevor in America, where he establishes himself as an internationally popular comedian and TV show host. There is also the description of the grand adventure taken by the two after they are set free from their country’s tyrannical rule.