It also deals with American racism, feminism, family, masculinity, geography, hip-hop, and Southern black life. His 2018 memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, deals with his difficult relationship with his mother-who instilled in him a love of reading and discipline and skill in writing, but who was in an abusive relationship and lived on very little money, and who beat Laymon with the justification that he needed to be tough enough for a white world that would treat him even more harshly-as well as his subsequent unhealthy relationships with food and gambling. 'How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others' was eventually included in his book of autobiographical essays by the same name. The essay was widely read and attracted both positive and negative comments on his portrayal of his racial experiences.

Laymon detailed his experience of racism at Millsaps, and as a coming-of-age black man in Mississippi, in his essay for Gawker, 'How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America'. His suspension followed ongoing criticism from the administration, including president George Harmon, who believed his controversial pieces on race in the school newspaper adversely affected campus and alumni relations. He also attended Jackson State University, where his mother worked as a political science professor, and Millsaps College, where he was suspended for a year after taking a library book without checking it out. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Oberlin College, and his Master's in Fine Arts at Indiana University. Laymon was born and raised in Mississippi. Laymon was awarded a 'Genius Grant' from the MacArthur Fellows Program in 2022. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Kiese Laymon (born August 15, 1974, in Jackson, Mississippi) is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi.

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