The book of form and emptiness : a novel
Record details
- ISBN: 9780670070176 (hardcover)
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Physical Description:
548 pages ; 24 cm
print - Publisher: [Toronto] : Viking, 2021.
- Copyright: ©2021
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Badges:
- Top Holds Over Last 5 Years: 5 / 5.0
Content descriptions
Awards Note: | BC Yukon Book Prize, Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize winner, 2022. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Fathers -- Death -- Fiction Teenage boys -- Fiction |
Genre: | Magic realist fiction. Psychological fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Manitou Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manitou Library | F Oze (Text) | 35864002740031 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Penguin Putnam
WINNER OFÂ THE WOMENâS PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
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
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 houseâa 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.
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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.
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And he meets his very own Bookâa talking thingâwho narrates Bennyâs life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.
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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 Ozekiâbold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.