In 'Heavy', Kiese Laymon delivers a poignant memoir that intertwines personal struggles with the weight of race, family, and body image in America. He navigates the complexities of growing up as a Black boy in Mississippi, where love and trauma delicately coexist. Laymon's narrative pulls readers into his inner world, revealing the battles he faces against societal expectations and personal demons. With raw honesty and lyrical prose, he explores the burdens that shape identity and the quest for liberation. 'Heavy' is not just a story; it’s an invitation to reflect on our own lives and the 'heaviness' we carry.
By Kiese Laymon
Published: 2019
""You can't be free until you're free enough to be yourself, no matter who that self is.""
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 In this powerful, provocative, and universally lauded memoir—winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal and finalist for the Kirkus Prize—genre-bending essayist and novelist Kiese 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). 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 time in New York as a college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. Heavy is a “gorgeous, gutting…generous” (The New York Times) memoir that combines personal stories with piercing intellect to reflect both on the strife of American society and on Laymon’s experiences with abuse. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, he asks 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 book for people who appreciated Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), Heavy is defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family through years of haunting implosions and long reverberations. “You won’t be able to put [this memoir] down…It is 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).
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“"You can't be free until you're free enough to be yourself, no matter who that self is."”
Heavy
By Kiese Laymon
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Kiese Laymon is an acclaimed author, essayist, and professor, celebrated for his poignant explorations of race, identity, and personal history. His notable works include the critically acclaimed memoir "Heavy," which details his experiences growing up in the South, as well as his fiction title "Long Division," which blends elements of time travel and social commentary. Laymon's writing is characterized by its visceral honesty, lyrical prose, and deep engagement with themes of trauma and resilience. His work has earned numerous accolades, including the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
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