Los Angeles Review of Books: An Urgent New Book for the Time Being

“...a radical novel. The 548 pages of The Book are warranted because of a message that is much bigger and more comprehensive in its critique than any of Ozeki’s previous works.. . . a beautiful, funny, sad, haunting, and extremely moving narrative . . . Ozeki’s commitment to having all her novels be co-productions created by multiple figures reaches its most dazzling manifestation in a book and a protagonist, mutually engendered. . . . There has never been a more timely novel... Ozeki sees the real dangers of fascism, bureaucratic and political paralysis, and environmental disaster not on the horizon, but before our very eyes. Only by acting together, rather than in self-centered isolation, can we save ourselves, and the planet. And that means that we must stop taking our selves so fatally seriously, because there is more serious work to do — together, and with modesty, empathy, and love. Like the dialogues between Benny and the Book, which at once frame the entire narrative and the myriad conversations among all the other characters, we can together create a symphony where before we heard only static and noise — all this involves listening, rather than simply hearing. . . I believe Ruth Ozeki is as concerned with what we can bring to a book as what it can give us. One message of this marvelously catalytic narrative event is that it’s all about relations, not individual ontology.”
— David Palumbo-Liu, LARB

November 17, 2021
Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books: An Urgent New Book for the Time Being

The Joplin Globe (UK): Author uses Zen philosophy to highlight pressing, modern concerns

“Ozeki masterfully mixes a cocktail of human emotions and their coinciding actions. Furthermore, her wordsmithing is hard to beat...This story is about the power of possessing. Yet it is also about the power that possessions have over us as humans. This story is about loss. Yet it is also about finding something new in the midst of absence derived from tragedy. This story is about mental illness. Yet it is also about the beauty of creativity, imagination and the profound mysteries of this world.”
— Derek Moser, The Joplin Globe

The Arts Desk (UK): Where the Objects Speak - grief speaks through inanimate things in this inventive, long and moving novel

“The Book of Form and Emptiness [is] rich with insight and deserving of a re-read. Ozeki’s talent for creating deeply realised characters...has also created gorgeously readable prose. As readers, we become more sensitive as the book unfolds: Benny learns to prioritise the voices he can hear; we begin to wonder which ones we have been ignoring. Ozeki has written an inventive, moving book, whose form is certainly interesting. It is far from empty.”
— CP Hunter, The Arts Desk

The Hungry Reader, Of Books and Reading: Read 219 of 2021 - The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

“Ozeki’s writing is magnificent. Almost like a painting or a movie. Her writing is constantly in motion and that makes the reader want to keep pace or just lay languidly without turning the page. The writing gives you the comfort and luxury to do that. The book is also about books to a large extent – of how books save us and what role they play in our lives. Ozeki writes carefully about mental health and trauma, with most empathy and grace. Ozeki’s world is surreal, it is haunting, it is not perfect, and definitely not absolute. It is messy, jagged, demands attention, and perhaps talks about things that truly matter or should matter to human beings, given our small lives.”
— Vivek Tejuja

October 28, 2021
The Hungry Reader | Of Books and Reading
The Hungry Reader: Read 219 of 2021 - The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki