A Tale for the Time Being
No Customer Reviews
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
A brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness Finalist for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award "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.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0143124870
ISBN13:9780143124870
Release Date:December 2013
Publisher:Penguin Books
Length:448 Pages
Weight:1.05 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 6.1" x 8.4"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Customer Reviews
0 rating
A Tale for the Time Being Mentions in Our Blog
15 October Releases We’re Excited About
Published by Ashly Moore Sheldon • September 26, 2022
Our TBR shelves are already overloaded, but that doesn’t stop us from browsing (and buying!) new books! Here are fifteen exciting October releases available for preorder, along with suggestions for similar reads you can enjoy in the meantime.
Long Distance Lit: 10 Great Epistolary Novels
Published by Ashly Moore Sheldon • November 27, 2020
You may not know what it is, but chances are you've read one. By definition, an epistolary novel is one made up partly or entirely of documents like letters, diary entries, newspaper articles, or emails. These stories capture the longing we feel for togetherness in times of separation. Here are ten of our favorites.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
