Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

If there was ever a time to read more, it is now. Michelle Obama offered on Instagram the other day, “It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own. It ends with justice, compassion, and empathy that manifests in our lives and on our streets.” With this guidance in mind, I read “Heavy” by essayist Kiese Laymon this week. It took me just three days to read this book because I could not put it down. Laymon’s memoir is about the weight of race, the heaviness of abuse, the haunting stigma of body shaming and the family ties that hold us back, and push us forward at the same time. Laymon grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of a single mother who was also a political science professor. She made him read, write and dream big — while also beating him when he was just a little boy. Later when he was sexually abused by a college student/babysitter, he sought comfort in food and overeating became his best friend. College would lead to a new life, but his eating issues became centered on depravation rather than binging. He would lose a lot of weight and then gain it back, by over exercising and starving himself. His food issues parlayed themselves into another kind of addiction: gambling, a vice his mother secretly shared as well. His story is dark and sad, and yet at the same time filled to the brim with light because he uses his writer’s eye to process and feel everything that he is experiencing. He brings us into his world, and shows us the door through which he was able to march out, triumphantly. Laymon is currently an Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing and co-director of Africana Studies at Vassar College. To purchase this book on Amazon click here