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)

A nice easy listen

A good book that I enjoyed. Did not disappoint but also did not excite me that much.

Okay - but nothing special...

What did you like best about Heft? What did you like least?

The best part of Heft is the realistic manner in which it depicts loneliness, and how it brings to light the extent to which loneliness is self-imposed. However, the story is long road that basically leads to no where exciting.

Would you recommend Heft to your friends? Why or why not?

No, as there is no memorable take-away from the story.

What three words best describe Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka ’s voice?

Harvey Firestein-esque.

A Bit Disjointed, But Great Characters

I am not sure I've ever heard of a book with such completely polarized characters. We have a man who weighs over 500 pounds; lonely and miserable. We have a young maid who's parents are upset that she's pregnant, and she befriends the much older overweight man. Then we have a teen who is an aspiring baseball player, and his junkie, alcoholic mother.

The three people are remarkably interesting but somewhat disjointed. The author explains how the three intertwine, but we never really get the satisfaction of seeing how they do. However, the stories of the three people leading up to the ending were fascinating.

I really enjoyed Heft. It wasn't what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a book about women who can't fit into their skirts and pants anymore- but it was so much more than that. It was a remarkable novel about the struggles every day 'misfits' face, and how they continue living although sometimes, they wish they could just stop.

Highly recommended.

4 sold stars.

-Wendi

Heft

I found this book to be extremely engaging. I could not stop listening. The readers are excellent and the characters well developed. The story is poignant and memorable.

I may listen to this again!

Any additional comments?

I loved this book, the characters and the story were superb! I'm thinking of listening to it again just because I now miss them.

Great book

I really love this book about two lost souls brought together by a third. I relate to Arthur.

Courage

Circularity of giving and receiving, hiding and seeking and iving on told honestly. Matched so well with narrator.

I did not want this to end!

This was lovely - the characters, the situations, the narrators - just lovely.

I honestly wanted it to keep going …

Engaging story

Really liked it. Wanted more of an ending.
I would recommend it for character development.

Great book, ended too abruptly.

I review rarely. Loved this book...until I realized it was over. I felt cheated investing time and feelings into the story and characters and not getting an ending. I’m sure author had her reasons but still want to know outcome. Having said that, I still highly recommend this book. Such a bittersweet story with very likable characters.