“Author Ruth Ozeki tells NPR’s Rachel Martin that, two years ago, she had finished a draft of this novel and was ready to turn it in to her editor when events in Japan forced her to reconsider the story.”
March 17, 2013 (air date)
NPR, Weekend Edition Sunday
Interview: Tsunami Delivers A Young Diarist’s ‘Tale’ Of Bullying And Depression
Rachel Martin
“Ozeki has produced a dazzling and humorous work of literary origami.”
March 15, 2013
The Seattle Times
‘A Tale for the Time Being’: 2 lives on opposite coasts
Wingate Packard
“At various points along the way, I thought the novel wasn’t going to happen at all. But the thing about Zen practice, and especially zazen meditation, is its practice of return. And so is writing a novel. You give up, and then you come back. In a way, both writing and Zen are faith-based practices.”
March 14, 2013
Freedom From Duality
Kirkus Reviews Blog
Jessica Gross
“As we read Nao’s story and the story of Ozeki’s reading of it, … time expands for us.… And that’s not a bad thing. Page after page, slowly unfolding. And what a beautiful effect that is for a novel to create.”
March 13, 2012
NPR, All Things Considered
‘A Tale For The Time Being’
Alan Cheuse
“Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being is one of the best novels of 2013—and will surely inhabit that position for years to come. ”
March 12, 2013
The New York Journal of Books
a book review: A Tale for the Time Being
Gabriel Constans