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Heavy: An American MemoirStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionWhat does the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies and deception do to a black body, a black family and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse'
ReviewsSo beautifully written, so insightful, so thoughtful, so honest, so vulnerable, so intimate ... A gift -- Jesmyn Ward, TLS Books of the Year Oh my god. Heavy is astonishing. Difficult. Intense. Layered. Wow. Just wow -- Roxane Gay, author of Hunger Brilliant and ground-shaking -- Elizabeth Gilbert Unflinchingly honest -- Reni Eddo-Lodge Laymon's writing, as rich and elegant as mahogany, offers us comfort even as we grapple with his book's unflinching honesty ... If this book succeeds as a thoughtful and hard-wrought examination of how a black man came into his own in a country determined to prevent that from happening, it's because of the painstaking manner in which Laymon walks the reader through the various perils and costs of striving ... Excellent --New York Times Quite simply, Heavy is one of the most important and intense books of the year because of the unyielding, profoundly original and utterly heartbreaking way it addresses and undermines expectations for what exactly it's like to possess and make use of a male black body in America --Los Angeles Times It's a book aching with heart yet proffering no illusions. It's raw and vulnerable and suffused with fiercest seeing. It's masculinity it all its self-consuming threat and secret beauty. Kiese Laymon writes of his mother "You modeled a rugged love.... You demanded that we develop a radical moral intelligence." In Heavy, this singular triumph of writing, he's done the same -- David Chariandy, author of Brother Tremendous. A searing excavation of trauma and memory that left me stunned. Heavy is a gift and Laymon one of the most important voices around. I cannot stop thinking about it -- Irenosen Okojie |