Heavy: An American Memoir

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Heavy: An American Memoir was published on October 16th, 2018 by Schribner. The book was written by Kiese Laymon. The book explains how he grows up through persecution and harassment as the consequences of national failure in reckoning racism and the accountability of love[1].

Plot

Heavy: An American Memoir Book Cover[2]

Laymon is raised by his mother who is a dedicated professor. He grows up in Jackson, Mississippi where prejudice at the time was massive. Therefore, his mother insists on him attaining high education to protect him from racism and abuse. However, his childhood is filled with violence, from his mother, his babysitter, and his friends. He experiences sexual violence from his babysitter, his mother abuses him by using a belt to beat him. He is running from reality by eating lots of food. He pours his feeling by eating cakes, cookies, and many other sweets which lead to obesity. As he grows up, he had lowered his weight through exercise and limiting his eating habits. Also, he expresses his thought on racism at college through writing articles that influence his safety as he receives many threats. Eventually, he becomes an English professor at Vassar, goes through many painful occurrences where he finally shares with his mother what they have seen and experienced[3].

Controversy

As written in the book, harassment is encountered by African Americans since they are relatively young. He mentions during his childhood, he had known abuse such as his grandmother was raped by Sheriff in Enterprise, Mississippi, or the time he and his mother was going to sleep, a gun was always placed beneath the bed to protect from any danger that could come anytime. He also explains when he writes institutional racism articles at college, threats were coming to him through letters. Racism had created a kid to be afraid of doing something as little as asking a question in class publicly where there would come an assumption of black people were less intelligent than white people[4].

References

  1. Heavy: An American Memoir. Goodreads. Retrieved January 25 2021
  2. Heavy: An American Memoir Book Cover. Goodreads. Retrieved January 25 2021
  3. Heavy Summary and Study Guide SuperSummary. Retrieved January 25 2021
  4. Sukhdev Sandhu. Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon review – bodies and the legacy of slavery TheGuardian. Retrieved January 25 2021