The Book of Form and Emptiness

Hardcover, 548 pages

Published Sept. 20, 2021 by Penguin LCC US.

ISBN:
978-0-593-48940-6
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3 stars (1 review)

Literary Award: Women's Prize for Fiction (2022)

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.

6 editions

Unsatisfying

3 stars

Content warning Spoilers for the ending

Subjects

  • Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Contemporary