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Anthony MarraAnthony Marra's debut novel is a marvel. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena describes, in astonishingly beautiful prose, five days in a rural... Continue »
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A Tale for the Time Being

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A Tale for the Time Being Cover

ISBN13: 9780670026630
ISBN10: 0670026638
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A brilliant, unforgettable, and long-awaited novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki.

“A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.”

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 first 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 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 humor 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.

Review:

"A smart and compelling novel about a world we don't realize we live in." Michael Pollan

Review:

“Buzzes and blooms with the cross-pollination of races and subcultures, death and birth, betrayal and reconciliation, comedy and tragedy.” Los Angeles Times Book Review

Review:

“Hooray — Ozeki rides again.” Barbara Kingsolver

Review:

“A sophisticated novel in which dread and hope coexist.” The New York Times
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About the Author

Ruth Ozeki, author of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation, is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Shambhala Sun, and More, among other publications. In June 2010 she was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest and is affiliated with the Brooklyn Zen Center and the Everyday Zen Foundation. She lives in British Columbia and New York City.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Jim Hiller, March 25, 2013 (view all comments by Jim Hiller)
I discovered this incredibly engaging book on a table in Powell's last week. Once I started reading it, it had me from the very beginning and wouldn't let go.

Ruth discovers a package on the beach, assuming rightly or wrongly that it is debris from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Upon opening it, she discovers a diary, kept by a Japanese girl named Nao, among other items, and begins to read. Nao's story is both heart rendering and heart breaking; as Ruth is pulled in, so are we. Nao deals with a suicidal father, a distant mother, and a school life that is so horrendous that it cannot be real. In fact, you begin to ask, what is real, as Ozeki fuses some delightful supernatural elements into the story just at a time when they are needed.

Ruth Ozeki plays with reality in so many unique ways that explaining them would give away too much. Suffice it to say that you will fall in love with Jiko, Nao's 104 year old great-grandmother and Buddhist nun with whom Nao stays during a summer break, giving much light, air, and philosophy, to this tale. I won't forget this book, nor can I wait until I revisit it again in the future.
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nadhir, March 16, 2013 (view all comments by nadhir)
It's not often a book gets me excited about reading it as soon as I open it, but that's what happened with "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki. Right away, in the first few pages, readers are treated to a unique, young voice. Naoko is contemplative, wiser than she realizes, and speaks without tempering her words. She displays a very stark self-awareness which often caused me to catch my breath. This was my first time reading any of Ozeki's books, and I am left with the compulsion to go buy everything she's written. I am certain this novel is going to end up listed as one of the best releases of the year.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780670026630
Author:
Ozeki, Ruth
Publisher:
Viking Books
Author:
Ozeki, Ruth L.
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
B-Hardcover
Publication Date:
20130331
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
from 12
Language:
English
Pages:
432
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in 1 lb
Age Level:
from 18
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Related Subjects

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Featured Titles » Literature
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Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » New Arrivals

A Tale for the Time Being Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$19.95 In Stock
Product details 432 pages Viking Books - English 9780670026630 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A smart and compelling novel about a world we don't realize we live in."
"Review" by , “Buzzes and blooms with the cross-pollination of races and subcultures, death and birth, betrayal and reconciliation, comedy and tragedy.”
"Review" by , “Hooray — Ozeki rides again.”
"Review" by , “A sophisticated novel in which dread and hope coexist.”
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