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svmreads's Reviews (412)
I came into this book with high expectations and they have been surpassed. I was a bit worried starting that this would be a typical comedian memoir, but I was absolutely wrong. This book is absolutely riveting, and although I read the ebook version (I would love to listen to the audiobook at some point!), I could hear Trevor Noah’s voice in my head.
Overall, this title was deeply informative about life in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, and I think that Noah balances his humor and social commentary very well. His discussions about his relationship with his mother are the strongest parts of the book, and the last chapter brought me to tears.
I do think that having a bit of background as to how he got into comedy would have been interesting; he alluded to it a little bit not much. However, the depth Noah goes into with discussing his upbringing more than makes up for his comedy career’s relative absence from the book.
Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. This one is going to stay with me for a long time.
Overall, this title was deeply informative about life in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, and I think that Noah balances his humor and social commentary very well. His discussions about his relationship with his mother are the strongest parts of the book, and the last chapter brought me to tears.
I do think that having a bit of background as to how he got into comedy would have been interesting; he alluded to it a little bit not much. However, the depth Noah goes into with discussing his upbringing more than makes up for his comedy career’s relative absence from the book.
Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. This one is going to stay with me for a long time.
One of the most important academic books I’ve ever read alongside Michel Foucault’s “The History of Sexuality.” This should be mandatory reading for all college history students. I really wish I had read this in college but I’m glad I had the chance to read it now. I can’t say enough good things about this book. Trouillot masterfully ties in not just history of the Alamo, the Haitian Revolution, Columbus, and Disney’s America, but manages to discuss them as examples for how history is produced, and how hegemony is created and disseminated, sometimes without even intending to propagate hegemony. I’ve learned so much from reading this book and I’m so excited to continue revisiting this for years to come and further analyzing Trouillot’s arguments. Incredible.
Nothing I write can do Crazy Brave justice. Joy Harjo’s words, especially her passages about “the knowing,” will stay with me for a lifetime. I look forward to revisiting this book and reading her poetry. Everyone should read Harjo’s heartbreaking yet mesmerizing prose.
Took me three years to finish this book but it was worth it! One of the most influential history/cultural studies books I've come across. Excellently details the history of racial science as well as the popular culture developed to create and cement stereotypes. If anyone wants to read a comprehensive history of modern stereotyping in the West, this is the book for you.
Absolutely powerful and gut-wrenching. “Grandfather’s Hands” in particular is a standout poem. Reviews cannot do this book the justice it commands.
