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  • Heavy

  • An American Memoir
  • By: Kiese Laymon
  • Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
  • Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (38 ratings)

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Heavy cover art

Heavy

By: Kiese Laymon
Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
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Publisher's Summary

Kiese Laymon grew 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 career as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, abuse, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing and ultimately gambling. 

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 11, Heavy is an insightful exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship and family.

©2018 Kiese Laymon (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Heavy

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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant.

This chronicled account of how mental health, socioeconomic impact, and abuse can shape and influence the way the Black American child internalizes and can fall into the cyclical trap of illness/addiction, poverty and systematic oppression through the caveat of repeated devaluation from their predisposition to fail, demonstrates and takes the reader through what could be reduced to a skin tightening ‘epilogical’ reference of the protagonists struggles. Very well written and titled.

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Powerful and beautiful

Poetic, lyrical and emotionally raw - this is a beautifully written life story, and even more beautifully narrated by the man whose story it is.

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 14-02-2019

Beautiful

An articulate, honest story of a brilliant black man navigating his black body,mind and soul in America... Heartfelt... and oh so beautifully written... tackles hard topic of pain caused by those who love us the most but are just as broken...

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  • B N Moore
  • 12-01-2020

This book is ‘Heavy’

I wanted to write a lie, you wanted to read a lie’... Layman’s book is ‘Heavy’!!!! Here is a memoir demonstrating the struggles of a black child / man growing up in America. His inner struggles with his self image, his addictions, his complex relationship with his Mother which seems to underpin the books narrative. At times I felt sad by his explanations of his childhood, adolescence and even as a man with his mother’s emotional ‘control’ she asserted over him. Here is a soul which is obviously very troubled but it is a memoir worth reading

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13 people found this helpful

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  • SuzanneLDobson
  • 27-06-2020

Incredibly powerful, hard hitting autobiographical account of love and shame

“I wanted to write a lie” and so begins the truth of Kiese’s life. It’s a powerful account of Kiese’s life: of shame, addiction, eating disorder, and family.. On growing up “heavy” and black, of being loved and shamed and made fearful at the same time . It’s also a powerful political polemic on the structural racism that exists.

I loved it, a hugely compelling read, totally transfixing.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • Bobby
  • 06-09-2020

not what is normally listen to..

this is an incredible book.
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I bought it, but what I found was incredible and really pulled me in.
I'm not sure how to categorise it, obviously a memoir but it contains so many different elements.
I wish I could be as eloquent as Kiese in writing this review!

give it a listen, you won't be disappointed.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • Nokukhanya Ntsaluba
  • 20-08-2020

Phenomenal

Phenomenal. This is one of those books that will stay with you. It will seep into your soul.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 08-12-2022

Outstanding

Absolutely outstanding. What a book! So raw and honest and insightful. Beautifully written and narrated

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  • Lomz
  • 07-12-2022

Masterpiece of honesty and hope

Love this book, topics of balance, love and brutal honesty, the black experience and reflection.

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  • ST
  • 11-03-2022

Big, strong and Heavy. captivating.

So full of feeling while listening to this book. Hard to hear in many places but not left traumatised because the writing felt so complete. Not shy. Somehow left with a sense of pride and strength and positive empowerment for and from the themes raised.

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  • Testing123
  • 15-07-2021

Monotonous narration

Impossible to listen to. Monotonous narration read at a dreary pace. Couldn't listen to this.

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  • R. Vakrat
  • 28-04-2021

Amazing

The narration by the author takes it from being a great book to amazing. I'm so happy that Iistened to it. Deep, heartbreaking, honest, wise.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 24-12-2020

an honest a account of life

sad and triumphant in over coming all obsticals to achieve and become a brilliant writer

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