Oblong Books & Music presents author Kiese Laymon reading from Heavy: An American Memoir, winner of the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction, on Thursday, March 7 at Murray’s in Tivoli. Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. Heavy is a “gorgeous, gutting…generous” (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 that he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, he asks us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this nation actually know how to love responsibly, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.
Tickets cost $17, which includes a paperback copy of Heavy.
Kiese Laymon reading from Heavy: An American Memoir, Thursday, Mar. 7, 6 p.m., Upstairs at Murray’s, 73 Broadway, Tivoli, http://murraystivoli.com
Join the family! 
