Synopses & Reviews
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 nineteenth 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 and work and cheat and 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 began to view his father in a new light and realized—for better and for worse—how much like his old man he'd become.
Sly, heartfelt, and tirelessly hilarious, The World's Largest Man is an unforgettable memoir—the story of a boy's struggle to reconcile himself with an impossibly outsize role model, and a grown man's reckoning with the father it took him a lifetime to understand.
Review
“What I have read of Harrison Keys memoir makes me want to read more.” < b=""> Roy Blount Jr., Author of < i=""> Long Time Leaving: Dispatches from Up South <> <>
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“Harrison Key will make you laugh and cry in his compelling essays. And whatever emotion he evokes, you will admire the style, grace and clarity of his prose.” < b=""> Lee Gutkind, Founder and Editor of < i=""> Creative Nonfiction <> <>
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“I havent laughed like this in years. I felt like I stumbled upon an undiscovered treasure when I read Harrison Scott Keys The Worlds Largest Man. I couldnt wait to tell my friends. Rare hilarity, indeed, in these asinine times.” Neil WhiteAuthor of < i=""> In the Sanctuary of Outcasts <>
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“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.” < i=""> Kirkus Reviews <> (starred review)
Review
“You dont need to be a hunter or even a man to enjoy this exceptional memoir.” < i=""> New York Journal of Books <>
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“It reads like fiction that is too crazy to be anything but truth. Fans of memoir, personal essays, and humor writing will devour this in one sitting.” < i=""> Library Journal <>
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“Both laugh-out-loud funny and observant about the ways we become our parents while asserting ourselves, The Worlds Largest Man is a wise delight.” < i=""> BookPage <>
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“Ever the raconteur, Key fills this rollicking memoir with tales of growing up with a larger-than-life father and being raised in the country, where boys would learn to fish and hunt and farm.” < i=""> Publishers Weekly <>
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“The Worlds Largest Man [is] a collection of essays, a memoir that reads like fiction. It truly is a gem.” < i=""> The Bitter Southerner <>
Synopsis
Winner of the 2016 Thurber Prize
The riotous, tender story of a bookish Mississippi boy and his flawed, Bunyanesque father, told with the comic verve of David Sedaris and the deft satire of Mark Twain or Roy Blount, Jr.
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 nineteenth 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 the story of a boy s struggle to reconcile himself with an impossibly outsized role model, a grown man s reckoning with the father it took him a lifetime to understand.
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About the Author
Harrison Scott Key is a contributing editor for the Oxford American and a professor of English at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, where he lives with his wife and three children. His work has been featured in The Best American Travel Writing and numerous magazines.