Heft

By: Liz Moore

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Keith Szarabajka

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Literary Fiction, 2013

A heartwarming novel about larger-than-life characters and second chances....

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn’t left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career - if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel’s mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur’s. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene’s unexpected phone call to Arthur - a plea for help - that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel’s own quirky and lovable voices, Heft tells the winning story of two improbable heroes whose sudden connection transforms both their lives. Like Elizabeth McCracken’s The Giant’s House, Heft is a novel about love and family found in the most unexpected places.

©2012 Liz Moore (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A suspenseful, restorative novel from one of our fine young voices.” (Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author)

“In Heft, Liz Moore creates a cast of vulnerable, lonely misfits that will break your heart and then make it soar. What a terrific novel!” (Ann Hood, best-selling author of The Red Thread)

“This is the real deal, Liz Moore is the real deal - she’s written a novel that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.” (Russell Banks, Pulitzer Prize finalist)

Fascinating

The author creates a several fascinating characters; one of which is morbidly obese, thus the title.

I opted for this book because I was curious about how someone could allow themselves to get to such a state; and how to they managed, physically and emotionally.

I found this story is most fascinating, and I found; to my surprise, that I was quite easily able to empathize with him. He is a sad, but quite likable character.

As each character in this story enters, and reveals their roll in his life; always in the first person, they all, ever so slowly, come together in frequently surprising, and unexpected ways.

It’s a touching story which held me in its grip to the very end, and when it came I was sad, because I wanted it to go on.
I would count this book as one of the most fascinating and enjoyable all the I’ve read on Audible.

The reading was flawless, you could almost feel the weight of the protagonist and the callow youth of :"the other Arthur"

am I the only person who hated the ending?

I absolutely loved the narrator who played Arthur. His voice was perfect--moving and evocative. Mel was good, too, but not as good as Arthur.
I was drawn into the story ins spite of myself. I usually don't like stories with this much minute detail and descriptions of every tiny thing, but for some reason I was fascinated and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. That's why I was stunned at the abrupt ending of the story...I even checked my library to see if I had neglect to download the last part...It's going to bother me for a while. Maybe that's what the author intended :)

Great look at life through the eyes of two unrelated men.

Sure hope there is a sequel. Fell in love with these characters. So life like.

Unforgetable

What made the experience of listening to Heft the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed this novel, with two connected characters with separate story lines, both of whom are dealing with baggage - one physical due to morbid obesity, the other buried under the weight of his family life and pressures of being a poor kid in a wealthy school. These characters are linked through one woman - Arthur's former student and Kel's mother. it is almost like reading two parallel stories that may or may not intersect, and I find the hope shown once both men open themselves up to others is inspiring and a joy to read.

Which character – as performed by Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka – was your favorite?

Both. I normally do not like Kirby Heyborne for some reason I don't quite understand, but he in particular has exceeded my expectations. The other narrator was also spectacular. Performances like this can lift a mediocre book to goodness, or a good book (like this one) to greatness.

Any additional comments?

Just read this book! I wasn't sure about Kirby Heyborne, but am glad I got this book on sale - though I would have gladly paid a credit for this gem of a book. I can't wait until Liz Moore's next offering!

Love this book and wish it were continued

The narration is a perfect complement to this beautiful beautiful story. There is so much to enjoy and so much to learn from this book, as I do each time I listen to it. It is about losing your family and then it is about your family finding you.

Original, Risky, Ultimately Captivating

This unusual and affecting book at times presents worlds so bleak, so terribly sad, that the passive act of listening further is called into question. But listening on is richly rewarded. We hear the parallel stories of two males, one middle-aged and almost immobilized by the physical infirmities of his great bulk; the other young and physically gifted. Both are trapped into narrow lives with what seems few possibilities for escape or true fulfillment.

It is at first hard to absorb the sad tale of enormous Arthur Ott, a very bright man who in severe depression has eaten his way into ten years of shuffling no further than within a few rooms of his Brooklyn townhouse. Salvation of a sorts arrives once he is moved by a letter to invite hired help into his house.

Kel Keller's is a coming of age story of sorts - a high school phenom baseball player burdened with crippling secrets. Kel's story seems so far from Arthur's - the only tie is the letter writer to Arthur. I came to love both men's stories, though more seemed at stake with Kel's. I applaud the imaginative power of the author to create such convincing worlds.

My only quibble, the only reason I do not give five stars, is in the way the author decided to conclude this novel. Yes, 'literary fiction' does not tend to wrap stories up in a bow, or necessarily lead us through travails to a happy ending. But the entire story built to a convergence of two worlds, of two lives. The author chose to leave threads dangling to a degree that, instead of letting me enjoy fashioning my own ending, left me feeling short-changed. Very good stories often leave us wanting more, even as we are left with much to savor and be content with. In this case, it felt incomplete to an unsatisfactory degree.

Storyline was good, but it left me wanting more

Any additional comments?

I didn't have any expectations for this book and found it difficult to make it through the first couple chapters. Once I listened to more, the storyline was intriguing but I felt like it fell a little flat at the end. I like the main characters, and the storyline and the book gives insight to how real people feel and interpret the world around them. Something is lacking for me as it is almost two stories that are meant to merge, but the book stops short. If you can personally identity with the main characters, the book might be more satisfying for you than it was for me.

Heft

Narration, as always with Audible, was excellent. I am still contemplating the end. Making me ponder today! Would highly recommend.

Sad

This is a great inside look into the life of a seriously obese and mentally disturmed person. I hated the ending but the rest of this book was quite captivating and hopeful.

Good until the end...

I thought the characters were intriguing and the plot flowed along. I would have extended the ending to include more.