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Kiese Laymon has written a memoir that can scald your heart - a gifted son with a loving, accomplished mother who inspires and drives him and yet abused and burdened him. His book shows the way. Heavy by Kiese Laymon Scribner, October 2018 256 pages / Amazon / Simon&Schuster When I finish reading Heavy, I am at the beach in a country where no one looks at me twice for being brown. Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese. Laymon (Scribner, 2018) is a complexly layered book. On its face it is the memories of a man who began his life as a poor child in Mississippi and how his experiences accumulated to make him the man, the author and the professor he is today. It is a journey in search of authentic love, authentic connections. Heavy is a “gorgeous, guttinggenerous” (The New York Times) memoir that combines personal stories with piercing intellect to reflect both on the strife of American society and on Laymon’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.
Kiese Laymon
Laymon is the narrator and protagonist of his memoir. He lays out a chronological account designed to elicit sympathy and deliver a call to action. He wants his readers to recognize, along with him, how racism in America has corrupted the opportunity of black men and women in devastating ways. Throughout the text, he focuses upon his relationship to academia -- heavily influenced by his mom's high expectations, -- his struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and his experience of violence and oppression in the South. Through his writing career Laymon has found an outlet for his opinions.
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Laymon's Mother
She is the real subject of this book, to whom Laymon addresses his writing. As a defense against racism and oppression in Mississippi, she turned to the bastion of academia. She has earned a Ph.D and demands similar excellence from Laymon, despite enforcing these expectations through the very patterns of violence she was hoping to spare him in the end. She is the victim of domestic violence as well as racially motivated hatred in her community, but she is a strong woman who refuses to bend. Her lasting impact in her son's life leaves him both confused and compelled to respond.
Laymon's Gradmother
She plays a very small role in the book. She embodies the oppressed black woman in Laymon's imagination. Her story is tragic; she was raped by the local sheriff when she was young.
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Laymon's Father
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His father is not a major player in Laymon's life. To his son, he represents a continuation of oppression. He beats Laymon's mom and remains largely absent from their daily lives.