Ruth Ozeki

A warm and witty saga about agribusiness, environmental activism, and community—from the celebrated author of My Year of Meats and A Tale for the Time Being. Yumi Fuller hasn’t set foot in her hometown of Liberty Falls, Idaho—heart of the potato-farming industry—since she ran away at age fifteen. Twenty-five years later, the prodigal daughter returns to confront her dying parents, her best friend, and her conflicted past, and finds herself caught up in an altogether new drama. The post-millennial farming community has been invaded by Agribusiness forces at war with a posse of activists, the Seeds of Resistance, who travel the country in a camping car, “The Spudnick,” biofueled by pilfered McDonald’s french-fry oil. Following her widely hailed, award-winning debut novel, My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki returns here to deliver a quirky cast of characters and a wickedly humorous appreciation of the foibles of corporate life, globalization, political resistance, youth culture, and aging baby boomers. All Over Creation tells a celebratory tale of the beauty of seeds, roots, and growth—and the capacity for renewal that resides within us all.

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there's only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates' bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who's lived more than a century. A diary is Nao's only solace—and will touch lives in a ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.  Full of Ozeki's signature humour and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

Numa remota ilha do Canadá, a escritora Ruth cata mariscos com o marido na praia quando se depara com um saco plástico coberto de cracas que envolve uma lancheira da Hello Kitty. Dentro, encontra um livro de Marcel Proust, Em busca do tempo perdido, e se surpreende ao descobrir que o miolo, na verdade, é o diário de uma menina japonesa, Nao. A sacola misteriosa, segundo os rumores dos habitantes, é mais um dos destroços do último tsunami que devastou o Japão e foi levado pelas correntezas até a ilha. Desde então, Ruth é tragada pela história do diário de Nao, uma menina que, para escapar de uma realidade de sofrimento – de bullying dos colegas e de um pai desempregado e suicida –, resolve passar seus últimos dias lendo as cartas do bisavô, um falecido piloto camicase da Segunda Guerra Mundial, e contando sobre a vida da avó, uma monja budista de 104 anos. O que Ruth não esperava era que o diário iria levá-la a uma viagem onde ela e Nao podem finalmente se encontrar fora do tempo e do espaço.

La storia di due donne e del loro corpo. Due donne che, a migliaia di chilometri di distanza, combattono una guerra di liberazione contro lo stesso nemico. Da una parte Jane che, scoperto con quale indifferenza l'industria alimentare avveleni il mondo, sogna di poter rivelare l'abuso di ormoni nell'allevamento dei bovini, proprio col suo programma televisivo sponsorizzato dalla BeefExport. E al di là dell'oceano Akiko, moglie del responsabile del marketing di quella stessa BeefExport, costretta a una resistenza passiva contro un marito che le impone di mangiare carne per irrobustirsi e dargli un figlio. Un romanzo contro il razzismo, il machismo e le follie di un mercato selvaggio. Ma anche un viaggio attraverso un'America piena «di cose che fanno battere piú svelto il cuore».

Entre las páginas de este libro se halla el diario de una niña llamada Nao. Arrastrado por las olas de un tsunami, ha cruzado todo un océano para llegar a su destino. Cambiará la vida de quien lo encuentre. Quizá también la tuya.

Après En même temps, toute la terre et tout le ciel , le nouveau roman tant attendu de Ruth Ozeki, lauréat du prestigieux Women's Prize for Fiction. Puissante et lyrique, une œuvre unique pour nous conter l'histoire poignante d'une mère et de son fils sur le point de perdre pied. Il y a un an, la vie du jeune Benny basculait. Son père adoré trouvait la mort dans un accident. Depuis, Benny et sa mère Annabelle souffrent du vide laissé par l'absence. Depuis, Annabelle remplit névrotiquement la maison de tous les objets qu'elle peut trouver. Depuis, Benny entend des voix. Comment trouver la paix au milieu du chaos ? Comment s'ouvrir aux autres quand on est envahi par la solitude ? Son refuge, Benny va le trouver à la bibliothèque. Un lieu propice au calme, à l'ordre et aux rencontres. Il y aura cette jeune graffeuse et son malicieux furet, et ce SDF poète et philosophe. Il y aura surtout un livre. Le livre qui va raconter sa vie à Benny, l'aider à entendre sa propre voix et à se reconnecter à sa mère. Pour que mère et fils retrouvent enfin le chemin de l'apaisement...

A cross-cultural tale of two women brought together by the intersections of television and industrial agriculture, fertility and motherhood, life and love—the breakout hit by the celebrated author of A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki’s mesmerizing debut novel has captivated readers and reviewers worldwide. When documentarian Jane Takagi-Little finally lands a job producing a Japanese television show that just happens to be sponsored by an American meat-exporting business, she uncovers some unsavory truths about love, fertility, and a dangerous hormone called DES. Soon she will also cross paths with Akiko Ueno, a beleaguered Japanese housewife struggling to escape her overbearing husband. Hailed by USA Today as “rare and provocative” and awarded the Kirayama Prize for Literature of the Pacific Rim, My Year of Meats is a modern-day take on Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle for fans of Michael Pollan, Margaret Atwood, and Barbara Kingsolver.

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

A brilliantly inventive new novel about loss, growing up, and our relationship with things, by the Booker Prize-finalist author of A Tale for the Time Being After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where "things happen." He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he meets his very own Book--a talking thing--who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter. With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot, and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz, to climate change, to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki--bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.

Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “No one writes like Ruth Ozeki—a triumph.” —Matt Haig, New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library “Inventive, vivid, and propelled by a sense of wonder.” — TIME “If you’ve lost your way with fiction over the last year or two, let The Book of Form and Emptiness light your way home.” —David Mitchell, Booker Prize-finalist author of Cloud Atlas A boy who hears the voices of objects all around him; a mother drowning in her possessions; and a Book that might hold the secret to saving them both—the brilliantly inventive new novel from the Booker Prize-finalist Ruth Ozeki One year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house—a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.   At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world. He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many.   And he meets his very own Book—a talking thing—who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.   With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot, and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz, to climate change, to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki—bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.

After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. At first Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where 'things happen'. He falls in love with a mesmerising street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he meets his very own Book - a talking thing - who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter. With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz to climate change to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki - bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.

“Ruth Ozeki, a Zen Buddhist priest, sets herself the task of staring at her face in a mirror for three full, uninterrupted hours; her ruminations ripple out from personal and familial memories to wise and honest meditations on families and aging, race and the body.” —Minneapolis Star TribuneWhat did your face look like before your parents were born? In The Face: A Time Code, bestselling author and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki recounts, in moment-to-moment detail, a profound encounter with memory and the mirror. According to ancient Zen tradition, “your face before your parents were born” is your true face. Who are you? What is your true self? What is your identity before or beyond the dualistic distinctions, like father/mother and good/evil, that define us? With these questions in mind, Ozeki challenges herself to spend three hours gazing into her own reflection, recording her thoughts, and noticing every possible detail. Those solitary hours open up a lifetime's worth of meditations on race, aging, family, death, the body, self doubt, and, finally, acceptance. In this lyrical short memoir, Ozeki calls on her experience of growing up in the wake of World War II as a half-Japanese, half-Caucasian American; of having a public face as an author; of studying the intricate art of the Japanese Noh mask; of being ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest; and of her own and her parents’ aging, to paint a rich and utterly unique portrait of a life as told through a face.

What did your face look like before your parents were born? Who are you? What is your true self? These are the questions in Ruth Ozeki's mind as she challenges herself to spend three hours gazing into her own reflection, recording every thought and detail. What follows are a lifetime's worth of meditations on race, ageing, family, death, the body, self-doubt and, finally, acceptance. In this profound encounter with memory and the mirror, Ozeki weaves together personal history, professional experience, Zen philosophy, Japanese culture and more to paint a rich, intimate and utterly unique portrait of a life as told through a face.

Powieść, w której przeplatają się ze sobą dwie całkowicie inne, lecz równie ciekawe narracje. Za pomocą słów zapisanych w dzienniku oraz japońskich listach połączą się losy szesnastoletniej uczennicy z Japonii, Nao, oraz Ruth, powieściopisarki żyjącej w Kanadzie. Kiedy Ruth rozpoczyna poszukiwania oraz próby przetłumaczenia odnalezionych na plaży listów i dzienników, Nao opowiada historię swojego życia i życia swojej prababki, buddyjskiej kapłanki. Z każdą kolejną przeczytaną stroną Ruth coraz bardziej zagłębia się w opowieści dziewczyny z niejasnym przeczuciem, że powinna w jakiś sposób jej pomóc. Ale jak pomóc osobie, która znajduje się na innym kontynencie… i najprawdopodobniej w innym czasie? Książka Ozeki to niepowtarzalna refleksja nad ludzkim życiem, wcale nie tak jednoznacznym upływem czasu i ogromnym znaczeniem słów i języka. W charakterystyczny dla siebie, inteligentny i dowcipny sposób Ozeki daje czytelnikowi do zrozumienia, że rzeczywistość nie zawsze musi być racjonalna. I że buddyzm ma wiele wspólnego z fizyką kwantową.

✽白紙是蘊藏所有形式的空無✽ 如果過去這一、兩年你在小說世界裡迷失方向， 不妨讓《形式與空無之書》為你點一盞燈，照亮歸途。 ▍ 眾聲喧譁，悲鳴不斷。 摰愛的音樂家父親意外去世後，班尼開始聽得見奇怪的聲音，各式各樣的物品會對他說話。父親的骨灰在午夜發出嘆息，襯衫跟襪子說它們喜歡被摺好，玻璃窗在害死一隻麻雀後哀鳴悲泣……物品的喧囂有時讓班尼聽不清別人所說的話，甚至逼著他做出違反意願的行為。 他還能跟一本只屬於他的書對話，這本書旁觀著班尼的人生，敘述著班尼的故事。 　　 與此同時，班尼的母親安娜貝爾逐漸養成囤物癖，各種雜物淹沒了家中的空間。隨著家裡囤積的東西越來越多，班尼聽到的聲音也越來越紛亂，他發現唯有在圖書館才能獲得些許寧靜，在那裡連物品都必須小聲說話，還會發生許多不可思議的事。 ▍ 什麼是真我？你應該堅持什麼？當全世界讓你失望心痛，該如何是好？ 班尼開始蹺課偷溜去圖書館，他在圖書館與自稱「阿列夫」的藝術家少女相遇，並愛上了她；他認識了有點瘋癲的流浪漢「瓶人」，他其實是詩人兼哲學家，引領班尼開始思考：「什麼是真實？」 可是班尼不知道答案，而他聽見的聲音使他的生活和理智都越來越失控……