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)

Loved the story. Disappointing ending.

Ending was not gratifying. The book felt unfinished. Loved all of the characters and the performances.

Lovely story about loneliness, family and friendship

Honestly loved this book. The narration was spot on and the story of Arthur and Kel, two wildly different characters connected by a long past relationship was touching in so many ways. Given the epidemic of loneliness society is facing, this book and its message should be most welcome to listeners and readers. Highly recommend!

Did The Notables Actually Read This Book?

This book is perfectly written and masterfully executed audibly. The story is very deep and not a sweet love story or simple tome about family. The readers seem to get it. The professional reviews don't.

This is a book about the impact that fathers, present, unknown and absentee have on their off-spring. The reviewers seemed to have missed this entirely. The book is very profound in its treatment of the subject.

Arthur has a weight and self-esteem problem. Kel suffers from guilt about his mother and confusion about his own identity. Yolonda is bringing a baby into the world without a father. Even the satellite characters have fathers of great importance to the story as Kel reaches to the fathers of his friends for help.

The story is excellent and will hold your interest. The point is important and very profound. The delivery is excellent by both readers. This audio book has it all.

Don't miss this one.

Redefines Family

Although this is essentially a character-driven novel about relationship and family, you won't find either the conventionally attractive characters, or those that are attractively unattractive, advantaged in the usual ways, that populate many books of the "dysfunctional family" genre. Although that same genre is successful and certainly insightful when crafted by masters like Jodi Picoult, Sue Miller, and Elizabeth Berg, "Heft" approaches the nuances of interpersonal connections through the back door, side doors, any entrance except the front. The irony about ingress via "entrance" is coincidental; a centerpiece of the story is a completely housebound academic, who, over the course of the novel, gradually dissolves his own barriers and allows people (including the reader) access to his life.

It's about flawed characters, flawed in dramatic ways; a person managing his intellectual life but unable to get the exponentially damaging aspects of personal life under control. A youth possessed of proven athletic prowess yet held back emotionally and financially by an addicted mom. The unlikely pairing of a working class house cleaner from an immigrant family with an upper class high-brow intellectual whose professional life has been on balance successful but whose personal life is drastically in need of an upgrade.

This story is beautifully written, and its slow and gradual progress - fans of high drama and fast action might not love this - demonstrates the coming together of characters from seemingly terminal isolation into a connected whole. The title "Heft" refers literally to the heavy personal ballast of extreme physical avoirdupois, but also metaphorically to the weight of relationships and connections forged from happenstance into a logical whole that has strength and, truly, heft.

The book's jacket cover is appropriate, composed of interlocking printer's alphabet blocks, all of different font and character, built into a "hefty" balance.

The narration could not be better.

Characters you will remember

This is the story of two lonely people. If you have ever felt lonely or isolated, whether due to circumstances or choices, shame or embarrassment, you will connect with these characters. The book isn't only characters, of course; there are several plot twists I didn't see coming. But I was most fascinated with how the characters dealt with each situation.

My only complaint is that it seemed unfinished. I am not someone who needs a storybook ending and everything in its place at the end of a novel but for this one, perhaps because I did connect with the characters so much, I felt bereft at the end. I hope Liz Moore will tell more of their stories so this sometimes-lonely reader can meet up again with her literary counterparts.

Beautifully flawed, real characters.

Any additional comments?

I found myself wanting to exercise or drive in the car just so I could keep listening. I loved the characters that Moore created. They were flawed and real and raw. The story was about loneliness and the need for human connection. While I enjoyed listening to both narrators, I was especially drawn to Arthur's character and his parts of the story. Szarabajka did a superb job of speaking Arthur's part. I could listen to that voice for days and days. Also, I loved the character of Yolanda, she was full of personality and charm. My only complaint was the ending. I didn't see the book coming to that resolution and it caught me completely off guard.

Loved the narration

This book went in a different direction than I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. I though the narration was excellent, and the characters were captivating. I found this book sad at times, but still uplifting, and when it ended, I felt very satisfied.

Hefty heart

Loneliness has never seemed so appealing, if being lonely means finding family in unexpected ways. I was pleasantly surprised to pick this title then recognize the narration of Kel's portion is Kirby Heyborne, whose narration brought something special to Gone Girl. All in all an unexpectedly compelling combination of plot and examination of self esteem and family.

Spoiler alert

Incredible performance. Horrendous ending. 😶 I listened to this in under 3 days and enjoyed it like what I imagine people enjoyed early radio programs. The ending was so abrupt.

Wow words cannot describe what im feeling!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I will tomorrow since I stayed up all night to finish it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Arthur....and Kell..... Both of the stories are just so engrossing. I acctually have much in common with these charecters, I maybe the only one though. Pretty screwed up. Such tragedy and hope all in one.

What about Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka ’s performance did you like?

They were spot on. I think Szarabajka s performance was just so right for the character.

Any additional comments?

I just about threw my kindle at the end of the book. 5 stars even though I was very upset at the abrupt ending! I suppose it is meant to be a great ending. You be the judge.