…engaging, quirky…Arthur's voice is engaging. His honesty is funny, even if the revelations of his haplessness are painful…Without archness or overly artistic sentences, Heft achieves real poignancy. [Moore]'s explanation of Arthur's psychology is perhaps too neat, but the warmth, the humanity and the hope in this novel make it compelling and pleasurable.
—The Washington Post

"This is not a novel with a happy ending, and that’s a good thing. Moore doesn’t tie her story up in a pretty package and hand it to the reader with care, but artfully acknowledges in the end that some heavy loads cannot easily be left behind."

"Few novelists of recent memory have put our bleak isolation into words as clearly as Liz Moore does in her new novel."

"Arthur Opp is heartbreaking. A 58-year old former professor of literature, he weighs 550 lbs., hasn’t left his Brooklyn apartment in years and is acutely attuned to both the painful and analgesic dimensions of his self-imposed solitude. Kel Keller, a handsome and popular high school athlete whose mother drinks too much to take care of him or even herself, faces his own wrenching struggles. The pair, apparently connected only by a slender thread, at first seem unlikely as co-narrators and protagonists of this novel, but they both become genuine heroes as their separate journeys through loneliness finally intersect. Though Moore’s narrative is often deeply sad, it is never maudlin. She writes with compassion and emotional insight but resists sentimentality , briskly moving her plot forward, building suspense and empathy. Most impressive is her ability to thoroughly inhabit the minds of Arthur and Kel; these are robust, complex characters to champion, not pity. The single word of the title is obviously a reference to Arthur’s morbid obesity, but it also alludes to the weight of true feelings and the courage needed to confront them. Heft leads to hope."

"Moore’s characters are lovingly drawn…A truly original voice."

"Every once in a while, you read a book with such well-written, memorable characters that you know you’re going to remember them forever…Heft is a wonderful oddball of a book. I loved it."

"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!"

"Heft achieves real poignancy…The warmth, the humanity and the hope in this novel make it compelling and pleasurable."

"Tender, thoughtful."

"Moore’s writing is clear, persuasive, and totally engaging, bringing her characters to life in all their sweet, quirky glory."

"[Moore] writes with compassion and emotional insight but resists sentimentality…Heft leads to hope."

"A suspenseful, restorative novel from one of our fine young voices."

"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."

"Heft is a work that radiantly combines compassion and a clear eyed vision. This is a novel of rare originality and sophistication."

"[W]hen you've finished and returned Heft to the library or lent it to a friend or archived it on your e-reader, you'll find yourself missing having the characters around. You'll wonder, while you're waiting for the light to change or kneading bread dough, what happened next. ...Moore [has] created characters that I'll probably never forget."

The characters in Moore's second novel have both physical and emotional weight—heft to be lifted, balanced, and carried. Arthur, a professor-turned-obese urban hermit, and Kel, a high school student yearning for a life in professional baseball, have a known and unknown connection through Charlene, Kel's mother and Arthur's former student. Her decisions shift the balance in everyone's lives. Narrators Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka do an excellent job of portraying Arthur (late 50s with a gravely, lonely voice) and Kel (young and brash yet old before his time), leaving the reader gasping for a sequel. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy evocative, emotional, absorbing, and intriguing fiction. ["Moore's lovely novel…is about overcoming shame and loneliness and learning to connect. It is life-affirming but never sappy," read the review of the Norton hc, LJ 10/15/11.—Ed.]—J. Sara Paulk, Wythe-Grayson Regional Lib., Independence, VA

This multilayered novel is deepened by two first-person narrations, which are expertly voiced by Keith Szarabajka and Kirby Heyborne. Szarabajka’s command of tone provides an authentic portrayal of Arthur, a former college professor who—rejected by his father, his peers, and his love interest, Charlene—becomes an obese recluse. Heyborne’s appealing, well-crafted performance brings out the adolescent angst of Kel, son of the alcoholic Charlene. Kel struggles as he grows up in a working-class neighborhood while maintaining his popular jock identity at his prestigious high school. Themes of classism, rejection, loneliness, and escape course throughout this poignant story. The unique strengths of each narrator enable listeners to connect with both Arthur and Kel as they discover themselves, each other, and their mutual connection to Charlene. K.C.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2013 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine