Heavy: An American Memoir (Paperback)

Regular price $27.00

by Kiese Laymon

Description

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).

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In Heavy, Kiese 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, Kiese charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling.

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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 Kiese'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.

About the Author

Kiese Laymon is the Ottilie Schillig Professor in English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi and author of the novel Long Division, the memoir Heavy, and the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America. He was recently named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow.

Product Details

Category: Memoir

Language: English

Format/Binding: Paperback

Book Condition: New

ISBN-10: 1501125664

ISBN-13: 978-1501125669

Publisher: Scribner Book Company

Date Published: March 05, 2019

Pages: 256

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