The Book of Form and Emptiness

Publisher details

Author
Ruth Ozeki
Publisher
Text Publishing
Genre
Fiction
Released
28 September, 2021
ISBN
9781922458193

The Book of Form and Emptiness

Synopsis

After his father dies, Benny Oh finds he can hear objects talking: teapots, marbles and sharpened pencils, babbling in anger or distress. His mother, struggling to support their household alone, starts collecting things to give her comfort. Overwhelmed by the clamour of all the stuff, Benny seeks refuge in the beautiful silence of the public library.There, the objects speak only in whispers. There, he meets a homeless poet and a mesmerising young performance artist. There, a book reaches out to him. Not just any book: his own book. And a very important conversation begins.The Book of Form and Emptiness is about grief, resilience, creativity and psychological difference. It is about the importance of reading, and an observation of the mess consumer culture has got us into. It is an affirmation of the power of community. It is funny, kind, wise, urgent and completely irresistible. If you let it—if you listen—it could change your life.

Reviews

A Feat of Imagination: Read Our Review of The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Review | Our Review

5 July 2022

A Feat of Imagination: Read Our Review of The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

    Original and Illuminating: Book Club Notes for Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

    Review | Book Life

    7 October 2021

    Original and Illuminating: Book Club Notes for Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

      Ruth Ozeki
      About the author

      Ruth Ozeki

      Ruth Ozeki was born and raised in Connecticut by an American father and a Japanese mother. She is a novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest whose books have garnered international acclaim. Her first two novels, My Year of Meats (1998) and All Over Creation (2003), have been translated into eleven languages and published in fourteen countries. Her third novel, A Tale for the Time Being (2013), won the LA Times Book Prize, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and has been published in over thirty countries.

      Books by Ruth Ozeki

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