-
Heft
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $20.97
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Long Bright River
- A Novel
- By: Liz Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit - and her sister - before it's too late.
-
-
Has no heft
- By Marion on 01-15-20
By: Liz Moore
-
The Housekeeper and the Professor
- By: Yoko Ogawa
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is a brilliant math professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only 80 minutes of short-term memory. She is an astute young housekeeper - with a 10-year-old son-who is hired to care for the professor. And every morning, as the professor and the housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them.
-
-
For the joy of a story
- By AM on 08-28-13
By: Yoko Ogawa
-
Leaving Atlanta
- By: Tayari Jones
- Narrated by: Myra Lucretia Taylor, Kevin R. Free, Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning novelist Tayari Jones delivers a story based on the 1979-1980 Atlanta child murders. Told from the perspective of three fifth-grade classmates, Leaving Atlanta is a vividly disturbing, but hopeful novel.
-
-
Why does Audible make you answer these questions?
- By Rich in BCS on 04-03-13
By: Tayari Jones
-
With Love from the Inside
- By: Angela Pisel
- Narrated by: Carol Monda, Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grace Bradshaw knows the exact minute she will die. On death row for murdering her infant son, her last breath will be taken on February 15 at 12:01 a.m. Eleven years, five months, and 27 days separate her from the last time she heard her precious daughter's voice and the final moment she'd heard anyone call her mom. Out of appeals, she can focus on only one thing - reconnecting with her daughter and making sure she knows the truth.
-
-
Wonderful story
- By Mary McDaniels on 09-23-16
By: Angela Pisel
-
Remarkably Bright Creatures
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium—and the truths she finally uncovers about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago.
-
-
Hidden gem, incredible narration!
- By Christine T on 05-17-22
By: Shelby Van Pelt
-
Good Eggs
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Hardiman
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Gary Furlong, Siobhan Waring
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a home aide arrives to assist a rambunctious family at a crossroads, simmering tensions boil over in this “witty, exuberant debut” (People) that is an “absolute delight from start to finish” (Sarah Haywood, New York Times best-selling author) perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.
-
-
This story will lift you up
- By Anita on 03-26-21
By: Rebecca Hardiman
-
Long Bright River
- A Novel
- By: Liz Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit - and her sister - before it's too late.
-
-
Has no heft
- By Marion on 01-15-20
By: Liz Moore
-
The Housekeeper and the Professor
- By: Yoko Ogawa
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is a brilliant math professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only 80 minutes of short-term memory. She is an astute young housekeeper - with a 10-year-old son-who is hired to care for the professor. And every morning, as the professor and the housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them.
-
-
For the joy of a story
- By AM on 08-28-13
By: Yoko Ogawa
-
Leaving Atlanta
- By: Tayari Jones
- Narrated by: Myra Lucretia Taylor, Kevin R. Free, Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning novelist Tayari Jones delivers a story based on the 1979-1980 Atlanta child murders. Told from the perspective of three fifth-grade classmates, Leaving Atlanta is a vividly disturbing, but hopeful novel.
-
-
Why does Audible make you answer these questions?
- By Rich in BCS on 04-03-13
By: Tayari Jones
-
With Love from the Inside
- By: Angela Pisel
- Narrated by: Carol Monda, Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grace Bradshaw knows the exact minute she will die. On death row for murdering her infant son, her last breath will be taken on February 15 at 12:01 a.m. Eleven years, five months, and 27 days separate her from the last time she heard her precious daughter's voice and the final moment she'd heard anyone call her mom. Out of appeals, she can focus on only one thing - reconnecting with her daughter and making sure she knows the truth.
-
-
Wonderful story
- By Mary McDaniels on 09-23-16
By: Angela Pisel
-
Remarkably Bright Creatures
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium—and the truths she finally uncovers about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago.
-
-
Hidden gem, incredible narration!
- By Christine T on 05-17-22
By: Shelby Van Pelt
-
Good Eggs
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Hardiman
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Gary Furlong, Siobhan Waring
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a home aide arrives to assist a rambunctious family at a crossroads, simmering tensions boil over in this “witty, exuberant debut” (People) that is an “absolute delight from start to finish” (Sarah Haywood, New York Times best-selling author) perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.
-
-
This story will lift you up
- By Anita on 03-26-21
By: Rebecca Hardiman
-
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
- A Novel
- By: Annie Lyons
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world - all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At 85, she isn’t going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets 10-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order.
-
-
Just what I Needed
- By Angela Adams on 02-04-21
By: Annie Lyons
-
We Hope for Better Things
- By: Erin Bartels
- Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Debut novelist Erin Bartels takes listeners on an emotional journey through time - from the volatile streets of 1960s Detroit to the Underground Railroad during the Civil War - to uncover the past, confront the seeds of hatred, and discover where love goes to hide.
-
-
Generational Story of Sacrifice, Love & Loss
- By Debbie on 07-22-19
By: Erin Bartels
-
The Unseen World
- A Novel
- By: Liz Moore
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ada Sibelius is raised by David, a single father and head of a computer science lab in Boston. Homeschooled, she accompanies her loving father - brilliant, eccentric, socially inept - to work every day. By 12 she is a painfully shy prodigy. At the same time that the lab begins to gain acclaim, David's mind begins to falter, and his mysterious past comes into question. When her father moves into a nursing home, Ada is taken in by one of David's colleagues. She embarks on a mission to uncover her father's secrets.
-
-
Weak Elements
- By Michael on 09-22-19
By: Liz Moore
-
The House of Broken Angels
- By: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly 100, dies herself, leading to a farewell doubleheader in a single weekend. Among the guests is Big Angel's half-brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life. Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle.
-
-
Not death, and Not borders
- By JKC on 05-01-18
-
The Goldfinch
- By: Donna Tartt
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity. It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
-
-
Best Narration I have heard-magnificent story
- By Felicity Xenia Spamotic on 12-02-15
By: Donna Tartt
-
Gone Girl
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.
-
-
Half way thru I didn't care what happened
- By AnneLena Mattison on 07-03-14
By: Gillian Flynn
-
Beyond the Crushing Waves
- By: Lilly Mirren
- Narrated by: Melissa Chambers
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Roberts is a poor gutter child living in a council flat in 1950s London. When she and her sister are left at an orphanage by their mother, they don't think their lives can get any worse.
-
-
Mirren Steps Outside Her Box
- By Jane Meddaugh on 03-18-22
By: Lilly Mirren
-
Water for Elephants
- By: Sara Gruen
- Narrated by: David LeDoux, John Randolph Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
-
-
boring
- By carol linker on 01-05-07
By: Sara Gruen
-
East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
-
Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
The Kite Runner
- By: Khaled Hosseini
- Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Never before has an author’s narration of his fiction been so important to fully grasping the book’s impact and global implications. Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them.
-
-
My Goodness, What a Audiobook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- By Andrew Covington on 11-02-07
By: Khaled Hosseini
-
Me Before You
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons, Anna Bentink, Steven Crossley, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me. They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose...Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life - steady boyfriend, close family - who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident.
-
-
Not for me
- By Matthew Family on 03-01-19
By: Jojo Moyes
-
Orphan Train
- A Novel
- By: Christina Baker Kline
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
-
-
Moving story of sharing and transformation.
- By Kathi on 04-03-13
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.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Heft
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mel
- 04-19-12
Intriguing--Captivating--Altering
"The first thing you must know about me is that is I am colossally fat. I eat what I want, and furthermore, I eat whenever I want...and I do feel very shy and sort of encassed in something, as if I were a cello, or an expensive gun..." so the character Arthur writes about himself in an unflinching confessional letter to a former love whom he has not seen for decades..when he was merely "plump." The self-described grossly obese Arthur is given a distinguished and compassionate voice by narrator Keith Szarabajka, in a remarkable performance that brings real heart and soul to this wretched lonely human being.
On the opposite end of the physical scale is Kel: tall, blonde, high school heartthrob that leaves his letter jacket on the shoulders of his girlfriend, then drives off in his BFF's BMW. But, Kel crosses the tracks and goes to a run down home, to a mother he disdains for her weaknesses; she is passed out on a sofa wearing a holey T-shirt that reads: It's 5:00 Somewhere! His father walked out when he was 4--he is so sure that his father is the source of his own tall good looks, his extraordinary athleticism, and all that is good in himself; while Mom represents imaginary illnesses, excuses, failures, and all he deems repellent. Also in this wonderful cast is Yolanda, the tiny pregnant Latino cleaning girl, whose sequined-sneakered feet dangle over the sofa when she breaks to watch her favorite soap on TV, and who yells at the honking cars during a huffing Artur's first arduous walk in years, "Hey! I'm pregnant here!"
Heft is a superb character-driven novel that had me in tears more than once. From Arthur's apprehensive yet straighforward introduction, to Kel's self-aware confessions of sorrow and regret, and the streetsmart directness of sassy Yolanda--- Moore has written a bittersweet intersection masterpiece that will etch itself in your heart. With such a significant novel...it is hard to conform to M. Twain's advice: "when you catch an adjective, kill it!" With apologies to Twain...Heft is elegant, beautiful, unforgettable, wise, tender, hopeful, humble, and what it is to be HUMAN; one of my all time top picks. I hope you enjoy this one.
411 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 02-17-13
Masterful character development
I realized nearing the end of this book that I was saying a silent prayer: Please don't end please don't end... I want to follow these people's lives forever. Arthur and Kel's characters were so deftly rendered that there was never a hint of self-pity or melodrama about them. I haven't felt such empathy for fictional characters in a long time. This wonderful book deserves more than five stars.
122 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy in CA
- 07-25-12
I couldn't stop listening
For some reason, this is a difficult review to write partly because I don't want to include spoilers and because it is an unusual book. I finished it very quickly, as I was intrigued by both story lines, and I couldn't wait to see how the main characters' lives intersected. It was in a most unexpected way but it really worked for me. This was not an uplifting, happy read for the most part, but it did offer hope for a better future for both characters. It is a fascinating character study.
Both narrators did an excellent job of bringing their characters to life and both immensely added to the telling of a story that for me is unforgettable.
I highly recommend this book.
98 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Glorianne
- 12-05-12
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.
55 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris Reich
- 08-24-13
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.
145 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Regina-Audible
- 12-27-13
One of My Favorite Listens
What made the experience of listening to Heft the most enjoyable?
The multi-cast narration was spectacular, bringing the complex characters to life in all their flawed glory.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I was immediately drawn to Arthur Opp. He's loveable in his tragic loneliness and I found myself rooting for him to open up and celebrating his tiny steps forward.
Have you listened to any of Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I've listened to Kirby Heyborne in 'Gone Girl', and his performance in Heft was equally gripping. This was my first listen from Keith Szarabajka and he's now on my radar.
33 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 01-10-13
Quiet and Heartbreaking and Hopeful
\Arthur Opp is a morbidly obese ex-professor who hasn’t left his Brooklyn brownstone for years. Kel Keller is a 17-year-old baseball prodigy whose education at a posh private school is at odds with his poverty-stricken home life. The connection between these two strangers becomes clear during the course of the book,with the narration alternating between Arthur and Kel. (I listened to this on audiobook, and, in a stroke of genius, they had two separate narrators for Arthur and Kel.) The book tiptoes up to the point where our two protagonists are on the cusp of a new relationship and then quietly shuts the door. This is a quiet book about loneliness, taking chances on other people, and moving out of your comfort zone. It is definitely worth checking out.
66 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AnonymousNC
- 05-05-12
Mesmerizing Performance
I haven't been so affected by a book in a very long time. I cried when it was over. I chose this book based on a review by a reader I admire; I'm sure glad I did. The narrator who is Arthur's voice did a wonderful, poignant, moving performance. He made Arthur become a real person to me. I can't explain how wonderful this character is on all levels.
There is no sex or violence, but a sweet suspense builds over the unfolding of the story. I wanted to skip ahead to see if I was right about the outcome. I wasn't.
It isn't a perfect book. Yolanda is a bit of a stereotype, yet I looked past it on the strength of Arthur's character. Kel's character is a little heartbreaking as time passes, but hope is always there. The three stories weave together beautifully and Ms. Moore keeps it interesting and believable.
I wish I could meet Arthur. Buy the book so you can fall in love too.
This would be a great book for a high school literature class.
104 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AudioAddict
- 09-15-15
Finding strength to leave the comfort zone...
STORY (fiction) - Heft is set in present day New York. It is full of memorable characters -- a pregnant teenager, an alcoholic, an orphan and a morbidly obese recluse. They are all flawed and lonely, and they are all trying to deal with their problems the best way they know how. This is a story about falling down and trying to get back up, and about moving out of your comfort zone and reaching out to others. The story is sad but also heartwarming and happy at the same time. The ending is realistic and wonderful.
PERFORMANCE - This book is read by two awesome male readers. Arthur (the obese recluse) sounds mature and well-educated, with a slight British accent. Kel (the orphan) sounds like the young high school athlete that he is. The story is told alternatively between their respective viewpoints, and the performances are great.
OVERALL - There is a sprinkling of cuss words in this book, and there is only one extremely vague sexual situation. There is no violence. I would recommend this book for mature listeners who enjoy growing with richly painted characters bit by delicious bit.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pamela Harvey
- 11-22-12
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.
85 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sharon Pickles
- 03-04-22
Beautiful, poignant book and wonderfully read
I read the book a few years ago, and adored it. The main character, Arthur Opp, is beautifully drawn, and the narrator does an excellent job of portraying him. You cannot help but grow to deeply care about Arthur from the outset. The story is split between Arthur and another, much younger Arthur, narrated in a very different way but stick with it, because your heart will reach out to this young man too. It is a tender, gentle story, wonderfully told.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- tina
- 02-20-18
moving story, beautifully read
beautifully written and beautifully narrated. loved all of the characters, could have spent more time with them.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- jennifer
- 07-20-15
well worth a listen
This book was made especially good by the narrators. A real gem of a story, poignant, thoughtful and touching.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Andrew
- 12-23-13
A book with weight
Would you consider the audio edition of Heft to be better than the print version?
The narrator of Arthur Opp is especially excellent.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Heft?
When Arthur goes for a walk for the first time. Never has a journey to the park being such an adventure.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Many.... This is a sentimental journey.
Any additional comments?
I have 99 audiobooks in my library. This is one of the best.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- cheryl
- 12-10-13
An unexpected joy to read
What made the experience of listening to Heft the most enjoyable?
I found the narration perfect for the subject matter, and loved both characters. The slow, contemplative style was relaxing and easy to lose oneself in.I was left feeling emotionally drained when I'd finished it, and not ready to jump into my next book. It's a story that gives one a lot to think about, both whilst reading and long afterwards.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Heft?
This isn't a novel filled with moments of great action, adventure or suspense. It's a story of inner thoughts and regrets, but it's also certainly not without hope and optimism. The most memorable parts of the novel for me are the most emotional, and there are plenty of those. Both Arthur and Kel meeting their fathers. Yolanda's life mirroring that of Charlene, the pregnant, college dropout. Kel's placing of the obituary which Arthur will most assuredly read. This scene wasn't overly long or descriptive, but still leaves a sense of loss and sadness, that lingers.
Which character – as performed by Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka – was your favourite?
All characters were very well voiced but I prefered Arthur Opp/Yolanda, not because the narration was any better, but as I felt a greater compassion and connection to them.
Any additional comments?
I was sorry when the book finished, as the end of the novel was just the beginning of the story, I could have spent many more hours enjoying the company of Arthur, Yolanda and Kel. I will definitely listen to this again in the near future.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- LeahH
- 06-11-16
Different but lovely story
Would you consider the audio edition of Heft to be better than the print version?
Excellent listen.
I like "contained" stories, that can hold my imagination. This is most certainly one of those.