170: Ruth Ozeki (THE BOOK OF FORM & EMPTINESS) and Walter Benjamin's "Unpacking My Library"

In This Episode:

Ruth Ozeki steps on into the Damn Library Hyperverse to shine. We talk about her latest opus, The Book of Form and Emptiness, and how books are magical, and accessing her teenage self, and an unexpected turn of narrative luck with snowglobes, along with many other things. Plus she brings us Walter Benjamin's essay, "Unpacking My Library" and we talk about what book collecting means to all of us.

The Ep. 170 Bookshelf

THIS EPISODE'S BOOKS:

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
”Unpacking My Library” by Walter Benjamin

WHAT'D YOU BUY?:

Drew — Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
Christopher — A Revolution in Three Acts by David Hajdu and John Carey
Ruth — Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, read by Kirby Heyborne // Circe by Madeline Miller, read by Perdita Weeks

ALSO MENTIONED:

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Face: A Time Code by Ruth Ozeki
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Adrienne Geffel by David Hajdu
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The works of Jorge Luis Borges
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Drew — Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston // The Boston Athenaeum
Christopher — Billy Summers by Stephen King, read by Paul Sparks // Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough bites
Ruth — Illuminations by Walter Benjamin // Ficciones and Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges // Anyway Cafe (2nd & 2nd, NYC) // PEN15 (2019-present)

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