Rating: 
Summary: Loved It!!
Review: I have fallen in love with, it seems, an unusual author. I found Ruth Ozeki's first novel, "My Year of Meats," when I was working at a little independent book store in Northern California. I read it on whim, and just absolutely fell in love with Ozeki's way of story-telling, her technique of uniquely blending Japanese and American cultures with agro-industry. A few years later, and I have just finished Ruth Ozeki's "All Over Creation". Once again, I was startled at how poetically she wove together a truly human story with a profound analysis of our carnivorous consumerist culture, and the side effects of this for farmers, children, etc. The profundity of her first novel rang true in her second. An Idaho farming family, genetically modified foods, and a hippie bunch...a strange setting for a novel? Absolutely. Heart-warming, well-crafted, and moving? Again, absolutely. Her works are just wonderful, very personal, very earthbound. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for Ruth Ozeki's Next Book!!
Review: I just discovered Ruth Ozeki earlier this year, when I plowed through My Year of Meats. MYOM was more laugh-out-loud funny than All Over Creation, but it's clear to see that Ozeki has matured as a writer. All Over Creation had a more complex plot and character development. I would give this book 4-1/2 stars if I had a choice, because although I loved the character of Yumi, I had a really hard time understanding why she had any interest in Elliot. Here's a woman who has had many lovers and has never married any of them...you'd think she must be at least a bit choosy. Elliot was a jerk; it was obvious from the very beginning when he committed statutory rape years ago. The story of friendship between Yumi and Cass was heart-warming and complicated. Cass resents Yumi for her fertility and the way she treats her children, having experienced the tragedy of infertility herself. Ozeki realistically portrays the complexity of female friendship. The Seeds of Resistance stories were funny and enlightening. And finally, I enjoyed the rich relationships between Yumi, her parents, and her children. I would love to meet Ocean!
Rating: 
Summary: My Year of Spuds
Review: If you gave up eating meat after Ozeki's last book/anti-carnivore treatise, then prepare to go organo-vegan with this thoroughly enjoyable romp. The jacket reviews say it's about nature's continual capacity for rebirth, and that's certainly the underlying theme, lesser motifs include the perils of starting smoking again, and that America has a crusty movement too- they just say "dude" more.
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo for Cassie
Review: Maybe you thought Yumi was the main character, but the one to be most admired is certainly Cass. She is the strong one, the stable one, the woman I most liked. Yumi turns out to be a pretty crappy mother, among her many other faults. It was an okay book, but predictable. Although I saw it coming, the ending did turn out to my liking. Momoko was another undervalued jewel. In the scheme of likeable women, Yumi (for me) came in a distant third.
Rating:
Summary: All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
Review: Overall, this book is a stunning showcase of Ruth Ozeki's talent. The book covers a range of topics from a poignant father-daughter relationship to genetically-modified organisms and their impact on our food supply. Those who enjoyed "My Year of Meats" will find that "All Over Creation" is another fine example of literature which combines social commentary with familial issues.
This book made me laugh, cry, and, finally, dread the ending because it meant that I had to stop reading the book. Ozeki has created an intelletually satisfying read for those who enjoy novels about environmental issues sans the preachiness. Brava!
Rating:
Summary: Championing Life and Nature
Review: Ruth Ozeki has produced another iconoclastic, sardonic, and hair raising novel raising further awareness about corporate subversion of our food supply. While not as ambitious as her earlier "My Year of Meats", this novel spotlights the threats to our health and nature as a whole posed by the genetic engineering of food crops. While we knew that green crops such as celery and lettuce were full of pesticides, immediately after finishing this book, and before I'd had a chance to turn the first page, my wife committed to only buying organic potatoes. Living not far from the site of this fictional tale, and where most of the nation's potatoes are grown, I was even more engaged in the author's description of how the dwindling number of remaining small farmers are coerced by corporate agricultural practices -- and how their own health is compromised as an added result. Ozeki again proved able to weave an entertaining and touching tale interwining human nature and our food supply. She tells a poignant and touching story about the unpredictability of nature while simultaneously making you laugh out loud. While Ozeki's satirical style makes the situation sound far fetched, she is again absolutely on time, as confirmed in recent articles in "Harpers" and the "New York Times" have confirmed. There is a sound basis in fear underlying the strident opposition of the Europeans to genetically alerted crops besides a seemingly elitist aversion to the American largely convenience food diet. Ozeki accurately represents how genetic modification of the agriculture is a critical threat to the world's health supply as a whole. Unfortunately, the actual outcome is less likely to be as upbeat as the novel's end.
Rating:
Summary: Seeds of rebellion and forgiveness....
Review: There are two things you need to know about Ruth Ozeki. The first is that she's a radical, anti government, anti-corporation, anti-globalization, tree-hugging leftie. The other is that she is a fabulous storyteller. If you can get past the former, you're in for a treat. If you can't, this book will irritate the heck out of you. All Over Creation centers on the interactions between the Fullers and Quinns, potato farmers in Idaho, and the Seeds of Resistance, a ragamuffin bunch of activists working the anti-corporate agricultural scene with a vengeance. Yumi Fuller is home for the first time since she ran away as ahe has learned her father is dying. She's returned against her best judgment as she has been estranged from her father since the day she left. Cass Quinn is her best friend from childhood, her family's neighbor and, with her husband, the Fullers effective landlord. A goodly part of the book is a "search for meaning and forgiveness" story between Yumi, Cass and Lloyd Fuller, Yumi's father. Into this volatile mix comes the Seed's, looking to learn seeding skills and techniques from Lloyd and getting in a few good activist actions on the side. As is the norm with an Okezi story, the characters are vividly and sympathetically drawn. The story-political polemics aside-is vibrant and engaging. The book, though outlandish on it's face, nevertheless feels very real, the characters come alive, and the book becomes a page turner quite quickly. There is not the slightest effort to achieve any sort of balance-as I mentioned earlier, Ozeki has a point of view and pounds it home with a vengeance. However, it never really affects the narrative in a meaningful way. All in all a very entertaining and moving story. I will never really agree with Ozeki's politics and worlview, but I will eagerly look forward to reading her nbooks as long as her storytelling remains this compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Seeds of rebellion and forgiveness....
Review: There are two things you need to know about Ruth Ozeki. The first is that she's a radical, anti government, anti-corporation, anti-globalization, tree-hugging leftie. The other is that she is a fabulous storyteller. If you can get past the former, you're in for a treat. If you can't, this book will irritate the heck out of you. All Over Creation centers on the interactions between the Fullers and Quinns, potato farmers in Idaho, and the Seeds of Resistance, a ragamuffin bunch of activists working the anti-corporate agricultural scene with a vengeance. Yumi Fuller is home for the first time since she ran away as ahe has learned her father is dying. She's returned against her best judgment as she has been estranged from her father since the day she left. Cass Quinn is her best friend from childhood, her family's neighbor and, with her husband, the Fullers effective landlord. A goodly part of the book is a "search for meaning and forgiveness" story between Yumi, Cass and Lloyd Fuller, Yumi's father. Into this volatile mix comes the Seed's, looking to learn seeding skills and techniques from Lloyd and getting in a few good activist actions on the side. As is the norm with an Okezi story, the characters are vividly and sympathetically drawn. The story-political polemics aside-is vibrant and engaging. The book, though outlandish on it's face, nevertheless feels very real, the characters come alive, and the book becomes a page turner quite quickly. There is not the slightest effort to achieve any sort of balance-as I mentioned earlier, Ozeki has a point of view and pounds it home with a vengeance. However, it never really affects the narrative in a meaningful way. All in all a very entertaining and moving story. I will never really agree with Ozeki's politics and worlview, but I will eagerly look forward to reading her nbooks as long as her storytelling remains this compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Family drama of corporate malfeasance
Review: This novel, following Ruth Ozeki's 1st novel My Year of Meats, is at once educational and entertaining with its multidimensional characters on a quest of self-discovery. A daughter's homecoming 25 yrs after she ran away from her now-ailing parents' Idaho potato farm forms the basis of the plot that examines the repercussions of genetically modified organisms.
Powerful - and it's a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth a look
Review: Very engaging book with a good blend of the personal and the political.
Interesting characters and a strong sense of pacing and drama to keep, and hold, your interest.
I also admired the way Ozeki alternated, from one section/chapter to the next among different characters' viewpoints and first and 3rd person and among past and "current" events; all this added to the layering of detail and the insights.
Unlike some authors, Ozeki is not shy about showing her character's "warts" and complexities, their likeable side and their cranky, difficult side.
I also recommend Ozeki's "My Year of Meats" -- as well as a look at her Web site and her blog.
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