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)

Wonderful characters, but needed a bit more action

Any additional comments?

Heft is about three lonely people and how they deal with feelings of inadequacy. The characters are wonderful and interesting. It would have been nice if they could have interacted with each other a lot more. By the end, two of the characters get to the point where they admit they feel inadequate, but they are going to try to trust people and move forward. It would have been nice if this happened much earlier in the book. As it is, the book made me feel depressed and a little angry that happiness for all could have been found so much earlier (18 years earlier) with a little communication. The narration is wonderful.

Really good listen

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

The way that the characters become real people that you really care about.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Heft?

I can't say without giving away the story. But I really cared about what happened to Kell, so every moment that pertained to him was memorable, maybe especially his mother's death and the way he reacted.

Have you listened to any of Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No...

If you could take any character from Heft out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Kell. I want to see what's happened to him since the end of the story. OK. I want to take Arthur Opp out too, to see if Kell changed his life like I think it did.

Any additional comments?

The story builds and builds to the climax and sometimes I wanted to be able to skim through it (like you can when you read text) so I could get there. But listening forces you to hear every bit of this wonderfully written book and you realize how important that is so that you can truly understand these characters.

Entranced

Any additional comments?

It is difficult to explain why I loved this story. It is slow, simply told and honest. I think it is that last thing, honesty, that was so intriguing. That people can just be who they are without apology as they evolve through difficulties of life was a story well told.

good book

It was depressing for much of the book but left you hopeful and feeling good by the end.

Absolutely Fabulous

I have listened to the book 3 times over the past two years. It is one of my all time favorites. The writing style is superb. I laugh and also feel sad at different times. Oh how life is messy but that's what makes it so magical. As I reflect on Arthur Opp, Yolanda and Kel Keller I feel hope. This is why I come back to Heft again and again.

Astonishing!

First off, Keith Szarabajka's performance of the character Arthur Opp makes him feel so very real, like he is talking to you. Arthur Opp becomes someone you'd like to know, someone I wish I could visit.

The story is a sad one. All of the characters are complicated and very human. I only wish it had gone on longer. I really wanted to know what would happen next. There is hope!

I recommend this book. Well worth the time. Loved the narration.

Loved it!!!

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

Some books are meant to be heard and this is one of them. The narrators really bring the story to life and you really want the characters to be real live people you could go have a coffee with and get to know. I didn't want it to end and was sad when it did..it left me wanting more. Please, please please Liz Moore write a sequel!

Left me frustrated

I would have given five stars, but, I listened to this story, becoming more and more entranced with the characters, and, just as I felt I was finally going to get the payoff of what happens when the finally meet, the story abruptly ends and I wanted to throw my IPhone in a tantrum! "Artistic" endings stink!

Poignant, thoughtful and reflective..

A really good story of a lonely overweight man and a young man with a sick and dysfunctional Mum. The book is two stories in one, the older man and the youner man and the Mum that is the connection between the two. It is beautifully written and the dialogue is thought provoking, gentle and poignant.

A very lovely story.. not too disimilar to Water for Elephants in style and narration.

Such a fascinating tale.

Really wonderful, I loved the alternating narration and although the end was kind of up in the air, it was fitting.