Upon finishing Heavy, I have a greater appreciation for the way Laymon ended the book. Picking up from his eating and exercise addiction in part 3, Laymon did not write about how he immediately fixed his problem in part 4. In fact, Laymon became anorexic, weighing 159 pounds with 2 percent body fat (p.207). I was surprised as I read this because I was wondering if Laymon plans on ending his memoir in a somewhat happy conclusion. As I continue to read, however, I realized that Laymon was resisting the “deficit narrative.”

Laymon remained authentic by not framing his story into the traditional mold of a deficit narrative. He had eating disorder but he did not immediately recover into a lean person. In fact, he gained more weight and was in even more misery. He also became addicted to gambling like his mother. Laymon had a heart-felt conversation with his mother about his weigh and addiction. In some ways, we can see the conversation as useless because both continue to struggle with their addiction and did not fully open up to each other about their thoughts. On the other hand, we can see that conversation as the beginning of a journey where true communication happens. This conversation opened up the relationship between the two and eventually helped Laymon to write his memoir. What I liked about the memoir is that is feels very real and raw. Laymon honestly show readers people’s persistent struggles and flaws.