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)

Not much action but a lot of story

I enjoyed this book for the way the work unfolds, the compassion I felt for Arthur, annoyance and then compassion for Cal, and frustration over Cal's mother. Juliana ( pronounced Yolanda), so free of judgement, was my favourite character. The ending was very brief, I wanted more, but now thinking about it, the lingering bit of ambiguity was the right tone

I never write reviews

Any additional comments?

I never write reviews but Heft has pushed me to acknowledge what a wonderful story it is, engrossing characters and 5 star performances. Congratulations to Liz Moore, this is a tremendous book.

Great characters and story!

I loved this story of a few isolated, damaged souls finding a sense of community and a sense of self through new connections. Through their vulnerability, they find intimacy and friendship.

Poignant, truthful, sad and hopeful.

Lovely story, lovely writing and lovely performance. A quiet tribute to humanity with all its beauty and flaws.

Enjoyabke

Very enjoyable narrator voices, and interesting characters. Many lives all tangled into one story. compelling.

A touching and tragic story with surprising optimism

I am very stingy with stars, so my giving out five stars means I was totally taken by this unassuming story of lonely people.
I purchased this book after hearing the sample and appreciating the narrator’s skill. As it turned out, there were two very talented narrators who brought to life two rather unremarkable characters—made wonderfully interesting by the writer’s gift for fully realizing the emotional depths in all of us, including those we might overlook. A beautifully written love story which is so much more than any synopsis could touch upon.

Well written & well read

Though ending proved to be an unexpected cliffhanger, reader/listener can "finish" as wished. I really enjoyed both narrators' work, especially Keith Szarabajka's take on Arthur. Tragic and hopeful, a great (long?) listen, Liz Moore is a solid storyteller.

Unsatisfying.

The voice of Arthur (Keith Szarabajka) was excellent. I actually really enjoyed the character, but Kel sounded like he was narrated by the windows text to speak voice. The whole story didn't really come together for me. It was just OK. I didn't feel satisfied.

Great performance loved the characters

The narrators were excellent. Exception there were many pauses that made me think the audio had stopped just a few seconds too long. The characters and story was interesting but the ending was disappointing it just stopped in the middle of an event with no resolution as if the author just simply tired of the story and put an end on it.

Peculiar but engaging characters

This was, in the end, a hopeful novel where damaged people moved toward the light and made progress and even the worst people had some redeeming qualities. There were some disconnects in this story and some parts that seemed never to add to the central thesis but maybe on a second or third listen I would figure it out.