Throughout the video Kiese Laymon | Heavy: An American Memoir, Laymon reads a chapter from his book Heavy. He describes the chapter as being a very emotional one, and what he reads delves into the relationship with his mother and other things, such as self image. During questioning he explains why he wrote the book as a letter to his mother and also the purpose of Heavy as a means of talking about love. Through watching this video, I came to understand why he titled his memoir heavy. It speaks about difficult subjects, but he also mentioned how he wanted to feel “heavier” which I took to mean that he wanted to feel substantive by writing to his mom and speaking to the audience with his writing. It served as motivation for him. I think that this source is reliable because it is a video of Laymon himself reading and speaking about Heavy. It serves as an informative source for people who have read or are planning to read the memoir, and it allows people to hear from the author himself.

Strand Book Store. (2018, October 31). Kiese Laymon | Heavy: An American Memoir [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_w7xkpQnr24