Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Tung

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Tung by Kiese Laymon

44 reviews

zaraven's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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charley0796's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

My first five star review since 2021! This was a heavy and dark memoir, written by Kiese for his mother.
I kept waiting to hear how he had moved forward and recovered from anorexia and binge eating and gambling, only for the dark ending to leave his future open.
I wish him all the best in the future. I’m glad to read this, it taught me so much about racism, poverty and weight.

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golem's review against another edition

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I picked this up at the recommendation of a friend and read it for longer than I meant to, because it is mesmerizingly well-written. I was also intrigued by the author's suggestion that this wouldn't be the kind of book that appealed to white people with an endless hunger for Black suffering. When I got to the parts with sexual violence between kids I put it down, remembering why I don't read memoirs and also remembering about 100 other highly recommended/award-winning books that begin with graphic sexual violence against BIPOC and/or queer kids, and most of which I also put down very early. But this is not a complaint against the author, who is brilliant and talented and has the right to complete honesty. It's just that I do not like how much the genre seems at times to encourage an appetite for this kind of suffering.

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sammies_shelf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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funkylitchick's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is a difficult but beautifully written memoir that’s addressed to Laymon’s mother, creating an admittedly unsettling intimacy by writing in the second person perspective, which really highlights the volatile relationship of the author and his mother. Laymon has a complex love for his mother that will hurt as he shares the abuse and praise that he received from a fixed figure in his life. He writes about being a heavy Black man, exploring a bit more on what “heavy” might mean. He poetically writes about the heaviness of the literal body, of masculinity, of Blackness, of language, of abuse, of complex love. There’s an incredible rhythm in the way he writes that evokes such power in his words.

Being a queer PhD student of color in the academy, I was especially taken to the section that focused on Laymon’s experiences at Vassar College. The things he poignantly wrote aren’t secrets by any means, but the way he laid out the issues that those from marginalized groups face really struck me. It especially gave me more insight on how Black men are treated in such a toxic environment. The sheer amount of emotional labor Laymon took on while in the academy needs to be highlighted. The way he was treated on campus as a Black man needs to be highlighted. The way tenure was handled needs to be highlighted. This book was written in 2018, yet, the issues still persist nearly half a decade later.

I really appreciate the brutal honesty and reflective nature of this memoir, and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to write this. This book is well worth your time for the way he explores difficult matters from his personal life in addition to nuanced criticism of US society.

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