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Heavy : An American Memoir Hardcover Kiese Laymon
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Item specifics
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller Notes
- Special Attributes
- EX-LIBRARY
- Publication Name
- Scribner
- ISBN
- 9781501125652
- Book Title
- Heavy : an American Memoir
- Item Length
- 8.4in
- Publisher
- Scribner
- Publication Year
- 2018
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Item Height
- 1.1in
- Genre
- Family & Relationships, Biography & Autobiography, Psychology, Social Science
- Topic
- Psychopathology / Eating Disorders, Psychopathology / Compulsive Behavior, Cultural Heritage, Personal Memoirs, Parenting / Motherhood, Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
- Item Width
- 5.5in
- Item Weight
- 12.5 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 256 Pages
About this product
Product Information
*Named a Best Book of 2018 by the New York Times , Publishers Weekly, NPR, Broadly , Buzzfeed (Nonfiction), The Undefeated, Library Journal (Biography/Memoirs), The Washington Post (Nonfiction), Southern Living (Southern), Entertainment Weekly , and The New York Times Critics * *WINNER of the Andrew Carnegie Medal and FINALIST for the Kirkus Prize * In this powerful and provocative memoir, genre-bending essayist and novelist Kiese Laymon explores what the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies, and deception does to a black body, a black family, and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse. Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we've been. In Heavy , Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his trek to New York as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation, and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this nation actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free. A personal narrative that illuminates national failures, Heavy is defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family that begins with a confusing childhood--and continues through twenty-five years of haunting implosions and long reverberations.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Scribner
ISBN-10
1501125656
ISBN-13
9781501125652
eBay Product ID (ePID)
221973285
Product Key Features
Book Title
Heavy : an American Memoir
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Psychopathology / Eating Disorders, Psychopathology / Compulsive Behavior, Cultural Heritage, Personal Memoirs, Parenting / Motherhood, Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
Publication Year
2018
Genre
Family & Relationships, Biography & Autobiography, Psychology, Social Science
Number of Pages
256 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
8.4in
Item Height
1.1in
Item Width
5.5in
Item Weight
12.5 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
E185.97.L394a3 2018
Reviews
'"Weight is both unavoidably corporeal and a load-bearing metaphor in this novelist-essayist's sharp and (self-) lacerating memoir, addressed to the single teen-mom-turned-professor who raised him to become exceptional, sometimes using a belt ... Race, class, and the scars of sexual violence are front-and-center, a constant pressure and threat, but its effects are registered at ground level, a space too complex and for pop sociology." -- Vulture "Kiese Laymon's intense, layered Heavy is a provocatively personal look at racism and oppression in America ... Laymon's prose positively sings, helped by the humanity and humor he brings to this astonishing memoir." -- The A.V. Club "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- EntertainmentWeekly.com "Stylish and complex ... Laymon convincingly conveys that difficult times can be overcome with humor and self-love, as he makes readers confront their own fears and insecurities." -- Publishers Weekly, starred "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred "Spectacular ... So artfully crafted, miraculously personal, and continuously disarming, this is, at its essence, powerful writing about the power of writing." -- Booklist, starred, "[ Heavy ] take[s] on the important work of exposing the damage done to America, especially its black population, by the failure to confront the myths, half-truths, and lies at the foundation of the success stories that the nation worships. In the process, Laymon ... dramatize[s] a very different route to victory: the quest to forge a self by speaking hard truths, resisting exploitation, and absorbing with grace the cost of being black in America while struggling to live a life of virtue...You won''t be able to put [this memoir] down, but not because [it is] breezy reading. [It is], in Laymon''s multilayered word, heavy--packed with reminders of how black dreams get skewed and deferred yet are also pregnant with the possibility that a kind of redemption may lie in intimate grappling with black realities." -- The Atlantic "Staggering ... Laymon lays out his life with startling introspection. Heavy is comforting in its familiarity, yet exacting in its originality ... Laymon subtitled his book, ''An American Memoir,'' and that''s more than a grandiose proclamation. He is a son of this nation whose soil is stained with the blood and sweat of his ancestors. In a country both deserving of his love and hate, Laymon is distinctly American. Like the woman who raised him and the woman who raised her, he carries that weight, finding uplift from sorrow and shelter from the storms that batter black bodies." -- Boston Globe "Laymon''s memoir is a reckoning, pulling from his own experience growing up poor and black in Jackson, Mississippi, and tracking the most influential relationships, for better or worse, of his life: with his brilliant but struggling single mother, his loving grandma, his body and the ways he nurtures and punishes it, his education and creativity, and the white privilege that drives the world around him...with shrewd analysis, sharp wit, and great vulnerability -- Laymon forces the reader to fully consider the effects of the nation''s inability to reconcile its pride and ambition with its shameful history." --Buzzfeed "This memoir from Kiese Laymon, whose previous books include the novel Long Division , looks at what it''s like to grow up different in the American South. " -- Town & Country "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay''s memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon examines his relationship with his mother growing up as a black man in the South, exploring how racial violence suffered by both impacts his physical and emotional selves." -- Time "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com, "Stylish and complex ... Laymon convincingly conveys that difficult times can be overcome with humor and self-love, as he makes readers confront their own fears and insecurities." -- Publishers Weekly, starred "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred "Spectacular ... So artfully crafted, miraculously personal, and continuously disarming, this is, at its essence, powerful writing about the power of writing." -- Booklist, starred, "Weight is both unavoidably corporeal and a load-bearing metaphor in this novelist-essayist's sharp and (self-) lacerating memoir, addressed to the single teen-mom-turned-professor who raised him to become exceptional, sometimes using a belt ... Race, class, and the scars of sexual violence are front-and-center, a constant pressure and threat, but its effects are registered at ground level, a space too complex and for pop sociology." -- Vulture "Kiese Laymon's intense, layered Heavy is a provocatively personal look at racism and oppression in America ... Laymon's prose positively sings, helped by the humanity and humor he brings to this astonishing memoir." -- The A.V. Club "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- EntertainmentWeekly.com "In Heavy , Laymon has written a memoir that feels like a body blow ... Through it all, Laymon's love for language and words drives his intellectual curiosity. Laymon's reputation as a writer grows with each piece he produces. Heavy will cement his reputation as one of America's best writers." -- Signature Reads "Stylish and complex ... Laymon convincingly conveys that difficult times can be overcome with humor and self-love, as he makes readers confront their own fears and insecurities." -- Publishers Weekly, starred "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred "Spectacular ... So artfully crafted, miraculously personal, and continuously disarming, this is, at its essence, powerful writing about the power of writing." -- Booklist, starred, "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred "Spectacular ... So artfully crafted, miraculously personal, and continuously disarming, this is, at its essence, powerful writing about the power of writing." -- Booklist, starred, "Kiese's heart and humor shine through, and we are blessed to have such raw humanity rendered in prose that begs for repeat readings. We do not deserve Heavy . We do not deserve Kiese. That he is generous enough to share is a testament to his commitment to helping us all heal." -Mychal Denzel Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching "The abundance of Heavy is going to be a gift for many hurting hearts, in our time and beyond." -Eve Ewing, author of Electric Arches " With Heavy , Laymon, the chief blues scribe of our time, writes and plays us a path through the weight of things." - Zandria F. Robinson, author of This Ain't Chicago "Kiese Laymon's new book is an emotional powerhouse." -Eddie Glaude, author of Democracy in Black "Permeated with humility, bravery, and a bold intersectional feminism, Heavy is a triumph. I stand in solidarity with this book, and with its writer." -Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckonings "His story of grappling with love and violence and language and our bodies is this generation's story, and it is as moving and heartbreaking and heartwarming as you would expect. And then some." -Courtney Baker, author of Humane Insight "Kiese crafts the most honest and intimate account of growing up black and southern since Richard Wright's Black Boy ... This book is the weight of black love, and might we all be wealthy and daring to open up to it." -Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of A Question of Freedom and Bastards of the Reagan Era "If for some reason you were not already convinced, there should no longer be any doubt that Kiese Laymon is one of the important writers of our time." -Clint Smith, author of Counting Descent, "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred, "One of the most dynamic memoirs of the year, this coming-of-age tale packs themes of race, class, politics, sexuality, self-esteem, and family into a magnificently unique -- and often unsettling -- package. Laymon's challenging tale of growing up black and obese amid white privilege, with a mother who pushed him to his breaking point, is exemplary." -- Boston Globe "Laymon's memoir is a reckoning, pulling from his own experience growing up poor and black in Jackson, Mississippi, and tracking the most influential relationships, for better or worse, of his life: with his brilliant but struggling single mother, his loving grandma, his body and the ways he nurtures and punishes it, his education and creativity, and the white privilege that drives the world around him...with shrewd analysis, sharp wit, and great vulnerability -- Laymon forces the reader to fully consider the effects of the nation's inability to reconcile its pride and ambition with its shameful history." --Buzzfeed "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay's memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com, "With a story that lives up to its name, this memoir explores the many complex forces at play in Laymon's life growing up as a Black man in Mississippi. Through it all, the author confronts multiple traumas with openness and love, in a book that won't leave your mind anytime soon." -- Good Housekeeping "In this harrowing and courageous memoir, Laymon explores the multifold traumas of inhabiting a black body, as seen through the lens of his complicated and abusive upbringing in Jackson, Mississippi. Yet the great miracle of this memoir isn't its evocation of the Deep South, its exploration of trauma, nor its condemnation of our fat-phobic culture--rather, the great miracle is Laymon's ability to bear love and light toward all the complicated sources of pain in his life, making for a searing and cathartic read." -- Esquire, "Dealing with family secrets, eating disorders, sexual violence, and other personal struggles, Heavy is heavy indeed--but it's also lofty and elevating." -- Electric Literature, Best Nonfiction of 2018 "Weight is both unavoidably corporeal and a load-bearing metaphor in this novelist-essayist's sharp and (self-) lacerating memoir, addressed to the single teen-mom-turned-professor who raised him to become exceptional, sometimes using a belt ... Race, class, and the scars of sexual violence are front-and-center, a constant pressure and threat, but its effects are registered at ground level, a space too complex and for pop sociology." -- Vulture "Kiese Laymon's intense, layered Heavy is a provocatively personal look at racism and oppression in America ... Laymon's prose positively sings, helped by the humanity and humor he brings to this astonishing memoir." -- The A.V. Club "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- EntertainmentWeekly.com "In Heavy , Laymon has written a memoir that feels like a body blow ... Through it all, Laymon's love for language and words drives his intellectual curiosity. Laymon's reputation as a writer grows with each piece he produces. Heavy will cement his reputation as one of America's best writers." -- Signature Reads "Stylish and complex ... Laymon convincingly conveys that difficult times can be overcome with humor and self-love, as he makes readers confront their own fears and insecurities." -- Publishers Weekly, starred "A challenging memoir about black-white relations, income inequality, mother-son dynamics, Mississippi byways, lack of personal self-control, education from kindergarten through graduate school, and so much more. Laymon skillfully couches his provocative subject matter in language that is pyrotechnic and unmistakably his own ... Far more than just the physical aspect, the weight he carries also derives from the burdens placed on him by a racist society, by his mother and his loving grandmother, and even by himself. At times, the author examines his complicated romantic and sexual relationships, and he also delves insightfully into politics, literature, feminism, and injustice, among other topics. A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred "Spectacular ... So artfully crafted, miraculously personal, and continuously disarming, this is, at its essence, powerful writing about the power of writing." -- Booklist, starred, " Heavy does what good memoirs do: it takes the personal and makes it universal. It is about the weight we bear--physical and metaphorical--about race and racism, about carving a sense of self in a senseless place. Heavy will not leave you lightly. It will stick. It will hurt. But in a way we need, the way--in this time of hopelessness--that breeds the belief that we can." --Ira Sukrungruang, Kenyon Review "Heavy's title is appropriate. This book is crushing, and the author is writing to his novel so the memoir feels that much more personal as you go through his life in and out of Jackson, from childhood to adulthood... [it] makes you confront uncomfortable realities about racism in America." -- The Summer Evergreen "[ Heavy ] explores the impact that lies, secrets and deception have on a black body and family, as well as a nation." -- CNE T, "Black Lives Matter: Movies, TV shows and books on systemic racism" "With a story that lives up to its name, this memoir explores the many complex forces at play in Laymon's life growing up as a Black man in Mississippi. Through it all, the author confronts multiple traumas with openness and love, in a book that won't leave your mind anytime soon." -- Good Housekeeping "In this harrowing and courageous memoir, Laymon explores the multifold traumas of inhabiting a black body, as seen through the lens of his complicated and abusive upbringing in Jackson, Mississippi. Yet the great miracle of this memoir isn't its evocation of the Deep South, its exploration of trauma, nor its condemnation of our fat-phobic culture--rather, the great miracle is Laymon's ability to bear love and light toward all the complicated sources of pain in his life, making for a searing and cathartic read." -- Esquire, "[ Heavy ] take[s] on the important work of exposing the damage done to America, especially its black population, by the failure to confront the myths, half-truths, and lies at the foundation of the success stories that the nation worships. In the process, Laymon ... dramatize[s] a very different route to victory: the quest to forge a self by speaking hard truths, resisting exploitation, and absorbing with grace the cost of being black in America while struggling to live a life of virtue...You won't be able to put [this memoir] down, but not because [it is] breezy reading. [It is], in Laymon's multilayered word, heavy--packed with reminders of how black dreams get skewed and deferred yet are also pregnant with the possibility that a kind of redemption may lie in intimate grappling with black realities." -- The Atlantic "One of the most dynamic memoirs of the year, this coming-of-age tale packs themes of race, class, politics, sexuality, self-esteem, and family into a magnificently unique -- and often unsettling -- package. Laymon's challenging tale of growing up black and obese amid white privilege, with a mother who pushed him to his breaking point, is exemplary." -- Boston Globe "Laymon's memoir is a reckoning, pulling from his own experience growing up poor and black in Jackson, Mississippi, and tracking the most influential relationships, for better or worse, of his life: with his brilliant but struggling single mother, his loving grandma, his body and the ways he nurtures and punishes it, his education and creativity, and the white privilege that drives the world around him...with shrewd analysis, sharp wit, and great vulnerability -- Laymon forces the reader to fully consider the effects of the nation's inability to reconcile its pride and ambition with its shameful history." --Buzzfeed "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay's memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon examines his relationship with his mother growing up as a black man in the South, exploring how racial violence suffered by both impacts his physical and emotional selves." -- Time "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com, "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay's memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com, "Laymon's memoir is a reckoning, pulling from his own experience growing up poor and black in Jackson, Mississippi, and tracking the most influential relationships, for better or worse, of his life: with his brilliant but struggling single mother, his loving grandma, his body and the ways he nurtures and punishes it, his education and creativity, and the white privilege that drives the world around him...with shrewd analysis, sharp wit, and great vulnerability -- Laymon forces the reader to fully consider the effects of the nation's inability to reconcile its pride and ambition with its shameful history." --Buzzfeed "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay's memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com "Journalist Sarah Smarsh's first memoir illustrates her childhood among the hardworking men and women in her working-class Kansas family, and in the process, illuminates broader societal issues: the moral stigma attached to being poor, the violence often inherent in poverty for women, the loss of potential created by systemic downward pressure on the already struggling. Smarsh has already established herself as an incisive cultural voice on this topic (among others), and the full-length book promises to be poignant and eye-opening." -- LitHub "Journalist Sarah Smarsh's first memoir illustrates her childhood among the hardworking men and women in her working-class Kansas family, and in the process, illuminates broader societal issues: the moral stigma attached to being poor, the violence often inherent in poverty for women, the loss of potential created by systemic downward pressure on the already struggling. Smarsh has already established herself as an incisive cultural voice on this topic (among others), and the full-length book promises to be poignant and eye-opening." -- LitHub, "One of the most dynamic memoirs of the year, this coming-of-age tale packs themes of race, class, politics, sexuality, self-esteem, and family into a magnificently unique -- and often unsettling -- package. Laymon's challenging tale of growing up black and obese amid white privilege, with a mother who pushed him to his breaking point, is exemplary." -- Boston Globe "Laymon's memoir is a reckoning, pulling from his own experience growing up poor and black in Jackson, Mississippi, and tracking the most influential relationships, for better or worse, of his life: with his brilliant but struggling single mother, his loving grandma, his body and the ways he nurtures and punishes it, his education and creativity, and the white privilege that drives the world around him...with shrewd analysis, sharp wit, and great vulnerability -- Laymon forces the reader to fully consider the effects of the nation's inability to reconcile its pride and ambition with its shameful history." --Buzzfeed "Laymon revisits the abuse he suffered growing up both black and obese in Mississippi, as well as his complex relationship with his mother. A book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay's memoir Hunger ." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Laymon examines his relationship with his mother growing up as a black man in the South, exploring how racial violence suffered by both impacts his physical and emotional selves." -- Time "Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot." -- Entertainment Weekly "[Laymon] unleashes his incendiary truth-seeking voice on a memoir that leaves no stone unturned in his examination of a life surrounded by poverty, sexual violence, racism, obesity and gambling. But Heavy is also about the lies family members tell each other and the heartache of growing up in Mississippi the son of a complicated mother." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Kiese Laymon is one of the most dazzling, inventive, affecting essayists working today, and his memoir lives up to the dizzyingly high expectations set for it. In Heavy , Laymon explores his tumultuous relationship with his brilliant mother, what it meant to grow up as a fiercely smart, rebellious black man in Mississippi, and his trouble with addiction in various forms. Laymon is fearless in his willingness to go to the darkest, the most tender, the most raw spaces of his life, and of our shared lives in the fragile experiment that is America. His writing will shock and comfort you, make you realize you are not alone, and stun you with its insights about desire, need, and love." -- Nylon.com, "[ Heavy ] explores the impact that lies, secrets and deception have on a black body and family, as well as a nation." -- CNE T, "Black Lives Matter: Movies, TV shows and books on systemic racism" "With a story that lives up to its name, this memoir explores the many complex forces at play in Laymon's life growing up as a Black man in Mississippi. Through it all, the author confronts multiple traumas with openness and love, in a book that won't leave your mind anytime soon." -- Good Housekeeping "In this harrowing and courageous memoir, Laymon explores the multifold traumas of inhabiting a black body, as seen through the lens of his complicated and abusive upbringing in Jackson, Mississippi. Yet the great miracle of this memoir isn't its evocation of the Deep South, its exploration of trauma, nor its condemnation of our fat-phobic culture--rather, the great miracle is Laymon's ability to bear love and light toward all the complicated sources of pain in his life, making for a searing and cathartic read." -- Esquire
Copyright Date
2018
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2018-002915
Dewey Decimal
305.896/073
Dewey Edition
23
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:375299194103
Shipping and handling
Item location:
Reno, Nevada, United States
Ships to:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Worldwide, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Shipping and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free shipping | United States | Economy Shipping | Estimated between Mon, May 20 and Thu, May 23 to 43230 |
| Handling time |
|---|
| Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
| Taxes |
|---|
| Taxes may be applicable at checkout. Learn moreLearn more about paying tax on eBay purchases. |
Return policy
| After receiving the item, contact seller within | Refund will be given as | Return shipping |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Money Back | Buyer pays for return shipping |
Refer to eBay Return policyopens in a new tab or window for more details. You are covered by the eBay Money Back Guaranteeopens in a new tab or window if you receive an item that is not as described in the listing.
Payment details
Payment methods
Seller feedback (381,081)
c***m (327)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
AAA+++; Excellent Service; Great Pricing; Fast Delivery-Faster Than Expected to Hawaii!; ; Book in Excellent Condition--Better Than Described ; TLC Packaging; Excellent Seller Communication, Sends updates . Highly Recommended!, Thank you very much!
a***b (1145)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Outstanding experience in every way. Seller was very good communicating. The description was accurate in every detail. The package was exceptionally well wrapped. Shipping was remarkably fast. I would recommend this seller without qualification. Thanks to the music shop.
o***o (70)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
Am pleased to say this was a satisfying transaction. Item was fairly priced and accurately described. Shipped soon after sale, in sturdy packaging. Arrived on time, undamaged. I recommend this seller.
Product ratings and reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Nov 13, 2018
Amazing, well worth the read.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: NewSold by: turningthepage_1
- Aug 12, 2020
Heavy is about the burden of extra pounds and racial prejudice
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: goodwillsoutherncalifornia12
- Jan 04, 2021
Book in Great Condition and Great Story
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: second.sale
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