Heavy

I listened to this in audiobook form and it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s going to blow you away and I can’t recommend listening to it enough. You know that I love a good memoir, and this is just wonderful as an audiobook. It’s poetic, powerful, beautifully written, honest, vulnerable, I could go on and on. Written as a letter to his mother, Laymon takes us through his childhood (and the trauma he endured growing up Black), walking us through his complicated relationships with weight (dealing with both obesity and anorexia), growing up “big and Black,” women and sex, and ultimately gambling. He combines personal stories with history lessons. Anecdotes and stories that can be humorous at times but dark and heartbreaking at other times. This was one of the books on my personal anti-racist reading list. I really believe that one of the best things we can do is to read more books by diverse authors to (a trite expression) put yourself in their shoes. I absolutely love this book – I could not stop listening to it and felt sad when it’s over (I recommend listening to The Stacks’ episode with Kiese to quench your book hangover!