Heavy ― A Memoir of Wyoming, Bmx, Drugs, and Heavy Fucking Music

In twenty heavy chapters, this book chronicles Anselmi's experiences growing up as a straight edge, BMX-riding metal head in Rock Springs, Wyoming, a place with one of the highest per capita suicide rates in the United States. His grandpa was a well-known businessman and politician in the area, and was featured in a 1977 60 Minutes episode for his alleged connections to organized crime. This is only the beginning of Anselmi's heavy saga, and it interweaves all of the social and personal history one might expect from a story like thisincluding Black Sabbath, Pantera, and Metallica logo tattoos, explorations in LSD, metal and BMX culture, self-loathing and sobriety, andfinallya very unique perspective on what it means to live in a heavy fucking world.

J. J. Anselmi teaches undergraduate writing at CSU Fresno, and also works as the assistant nonfiction editor ofThe Normal School. His work has appeared in Copper Nickel, Jackson Hole Review, andThe Writing Disorder. He lives in Fresno, CA.