Heavy

Writer Keise Laymon (HOW TO SLOWLY KILL YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN AMERICA) narrates his memoir of growing up in the South, focusing on his fraught relationship with his mother and its effect on his life. He employs a colloquial, painful tone to declare the revelatory discomforts of their relationship. Yet he intentionally plays with language, utilizing repetition at times. His voice sometimes projects tiredness, specifically when he discusses his fluctuating weight, his candidness freely conveying his vulnerability. As the audiobook title suggests, he talks of the strengths and weaknesses of being HEAVY in his black body. This work reflects discomfort, clarity, and truth about who he is and who he wants to be. Laymon holds the weight of the world in the words he writes and speaks. T.E.C. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine