Heavy: This is a rather heart-warming look back at the life of Robert Earl Hughes, the Midwestern farmboy who grew to be the world’s heaviest man at the time, at 1,041 lbs. (a record long-since eclipsed). The author does a nice job of researching the life of Hughes, who, by all accounts, seemed to have a happy life, full of family and friends.

Who would think of mistreating him? He was too kind. He was always upbeat and laughing and having fun with everyone, so why would someone think of hurting him?” When the roly-poly boy could no longer run or jump with his peers, they invented new games that suited or even featured him, and if the object at recess was to “get Earl down,” why, you’d better believe that Robert Earl was laughing hardest of all while he whirled in circles to bat away his mates. It never occurred to Fishhook children, separated from the faster world by income, geography, and opportunity, to tease a boy who was so much like them.

Sadly, the story ends about how you would expect for someone that heavy.