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bonnieg 's review for:
Heavy: An American Memoir
by Kiese Laymon
Wow. People who know me IRL know that I am not an openly emotional person. I rarely cry and I hate books and movies that intentionally wring emotion from people. This cold bitch cried like a baby listening to this book as I sat in traffic on the 59th Street bridge. I was such a mess that the man in the car next to me rolled down his window and asked if I was okay. A NYC cab driver stuck on the bridge was worried about me – that is a lot of tears. There is nothing manipulative about Heavy, the pathos is absolutely authentic I am blown away by Laymon’s honesty, his talent, and his insight. Though his experience is uniquely his, sadly many of the horrors to which he bore witness or of which he was the victim happen to many people, and from those experiences comes nothing but sadness and violence and despair. Laymon found the drive to be a better person, a truly good person. Still a person in pain, a self-destructive person, but one who strives to acknowledge and overcome that which limits him. This book is sad, but it is not tragedy porn. It helped me to see gaps in my empathy, places where I was failing to see what it means to be Black in America, to be fat in America (which I do understand in part from personal experience), to be a big Black man in America. It also helped me see the intersectionality of oppression. Kiese’s connection to feminism is fascinating and instructive. The book also covers the power of literature and the infinite number of forms love can take, some of which are woven together with abuse and pain and destruction but which still nourish. I tell you true, if the opening story doesn’t break your heart, you need to go to Oz and get one. This is an essential companion piece to Ta-Nahesi Coates’ [b:Between the World and Me|25489625|Between the World and Me|Ta-Nehisi Coates|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451435027l/25489625._SY75_.jpg|44848425] and Roxane Gay’s [b:Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body|26074156|Hunger A Memoir of (My) Body|Roxane Gay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448064366l/26074156._SY75_.jpg|42362558].