ABSTRACT
South Africa is awash in memoirs both of the formal, edited, published kind and the family stories which are often self-published and of varying quality. Many evoke the rich intensity of lives under apartheid as well as the features of testimonial. Deprivation is highlighted in this chapter and little is said about the humor and irreverence, as well as the lightness with which Noah treats very serious subject matter like his own complex relationship with his white father. Memoirs yank on the memory, transporting an unsuspecting reader instantly into the past. They evoke a powerful nostalgia and the warmth of sharing something intimate and important. They also have the capacity to enchant those readers who are entering a foreign world guided by a child as to its workings and characters. Apartheid is no longer the single defining condition of all South Africans' lives, futures, and possibilities, especially for black South Africans.
