“The Book of Form and Emptiness nurtures stories of human connection—not excluding those inherited through things both collected and discarded—as well as the transcendent magic that so many words can conjure. If one accepts that a novel and its counterparts, limited by form, cannot act as a true looking glass for its reader, then the value of a book is instead measured by a limited number of words that seek to convey and impact our shared realities. In the liminal space of form and emptiness, it is stories, especially those bound safely inside books, that tether us to life. Ozeki’s novels tend to speak for themselves. After all, “[b]ooks will always have the last word, even if no one is around to read them.””
October 1, 2021
Chicago Review of Books
Chicago Review of Books: Semi-Living Words in The Book of Form and Emptiness