The World's Largest Man

A Memoir

By: Harrison Scott Key

Narrated by: Harrison Scott Key

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Harrison Scott Key was born in Memphis, but he grew up in Mississippi, among pious, Bible-reading women, and men who either shot things or got women pregnant. At the center of his world was his larger-than-life father - a hunter, a fighter, a football coach, "a man better suited to living in a remote frontier wilderness of the 19th century than contemporary America, with all its progressive ideas, and paved roads, and lack of armed duels. He was a great man, and he taught me many things: how to fight, how to work, how to cheat, how to pray to Jesus about it, how to kill things with guns and knives, and, if necessary, with hammers."

Harrison, with his love of books and excessive interest in hugging, couldn't have been less like Pop, and when it became clear that he was not able to kill anything very well or otherwise make his father happy, he resolved to become everything his father was not: an actor, a Presbyterian, and a doctor of philosophy. But when it was time to settle down and start a family of his own, Harrison started to view his father in a new light, and realized - for better and for worse - how much of his old man he'd absorbed.

Sly, heartfelt, and tirelessly hilarious, The World's Largest Man is an unforgettable memoir.

©2015 Harrison Scott Key (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Consistently seasoned with laughs, this memoir is adroitly warm and deep when it is called for. An uncommonly entertaining story replete with consistent wit and lethal weaponry." ( Kirkus, starred review)

I laughed and I cried

I didn’t want it to end. This was one of the most endearing books I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in a long while. Thank you for sharing your whit, your insights, intelligence and your life.

you wont be sorry!

this was the most enjoyable story i have read/heard in a very, very long time!

I laughed every day to and from work. Loved it!

The author's intelligent humor kept me smiling and laughing each day to and from work. Chapter 16 was especially hilarious! I loved this book.

Brilliantly Funny and Moving

So glad we discovered this amazing writer. Achingly funny but also a heartfelt tribute to his maddening father. He narrates it perfectly.

A treasure!

Funny, relatable, culturally relevant and insightful. I loved it. Only book I've ever listened to twice.

Sad it had to end!

This story is side-splitting funny, and so poignant as well. Covers all the bases for a perfectly crafted treasure. Being married to a man whose “people” have been populating MS for many many generations, it’s authenticity is spot on. The “father thread” running throughout is a beautiful bow by the last page. I truly enjoyed the author’s narration of it.
On to Harrison’s next book!

I have never written a review against my raising, but

As a Mississippi boy that grew up at the same time and with what appears to be the same exact family, it was a belly laugh down memory lane.
J.J. McCool

More people need to read Will D. Campbell

For the last several years, I check audible every so often to see if any work by Campbell pops. up. So grateful "The Glad River" is available. Campbell fiction work was as strong as his memoirs.
My only critique is the narration. I wish it was more personal.
I'm always amazed more people don't know about Brother Will. He was figure who became something of a folk hero, Campbell openly rejected the accolades extended to him. He deflected his significance in the civil rights movement, the rubbing of elbows with country music stars and his elevation as a modern-day prophet of the South. Dodging labels created and thrown at him from both the right and the left, he adopted a persona of one unwilling to be the head of anything or any cause.

This was his life. After serving one small church in Louisiana, he left traditional ministry for good. Instead, he wandered as a minister of disruption, a role that pushed him into the public square. On several occasions, someone asked Campbell to describe his “ministry.” In those moments, he let the questioner know he did not have a ministry but a life, and this is what he felt called to do with it.

Campbell’s life and work comprised an experiment in agitation. Underneath the wrappings of flesh and bone dwelt a constantly churning spirit of confrontation. A spirit willing to put those he loved — and Campbell believed “if you’re gonna love one, you’ve got to love ’em all” — in uncomfortable positions.

Here's to hoping that I won't have to wait as long to listen to "Brother to a Dragonfly."

Poignant and funny

I enjoyed this as a man from the south, but I think it would be enjoyable even to those without large Southern fathers. Key shows a lot of grace in coming to terms with his relationship with his dad - in acknowledging that we are all human - flaws and all.

This is wonderful!!

Do read this book. It’s different. It’s refreshing, funny, and will keep you riveted and shaking your head in disbelief that it’s really true!
The author narrates which he does soooo well. I love his voice.