HEAVY MEMOIR HOW TO

From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his career as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, abuse, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing and ultimately gambling. Just wow' - Roxane Gay'Unflinchingly honest' - Reni Eddo-Lodge'An act of truth-telling unlike any other I can think of' - Alexander Chee_A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR_The story of the black male experience in America you've never read beforeKiese Laymon grew up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. _'So beautifully written, so insightful, so thoughtful, so honest, so vulnerable, so intimate.

Seller Inventory # AAZ9781526605764īook Description Paperback.

HEAVY MEMOIR HOW TO

In Heavy, by attempting to name secrets and lies that he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few know how to love responsibly, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.A defiant yet vulnerable memoir that Laymon started writing when he was eleven, Heavy is an insightful exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship and family._'Laymon's writing, as rich and elegant as mahogany, offers us comfort even as we grapple with his book's unflinching honesty. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.īook Description Paperback.

In Heavy, by attempting to name secrets and lies that he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few know how to love responsibly, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.Ī defiant yet vulnerable memoir that Laymon started writing when he was eleven, Heavy is an insightful exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship and family. Kiese Laymon grew up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. The story of the black male experience in America you've never read before 'An act of truth-telling unlike any other I can think of' ALEXANDER CHEE It’ll leave you shaken.'So beautifully written, so insightful, so thoughtful, so honest, so vulnerable, so intimate. The stylistic change functions like a confrontation, a distilled epilogue of clarity.

As Laymon moves toward his conclusion, the book shifts into more of a monologue, an artful, even theatrical meditation on what preceded it - on his confession. The shattering quality of the writing never lets up. He supports so many relatives financially that he, at times, can barely keep himself afloat. But he carries the reality of his childhood, the broken, complicated memories of his mother, every day. He’d eventually ascend to a professorship and, of course, the title of published author. (He weighed 300 pounds at one point, and would pass out in public.) The details are bleak, vivid: scrounging pizza slices from the trash while in college, watching his addict mother slotting away at a casino, from a distance. He conveys his agony, living through obesity and eating disorders, self-delusions and depression. Laymon meditates on the legacy of racial violence in his poor Mississippi hometown, the stains of blood and the ghosts of his ancestors all but visible as he traces the landscape.

Heavy memoir