Benny Oh is the protagonist of The Book of Form and Emptiness and a high-school freshman in San Francisco. After the death of his father, Kenji, Benny begins hearing the voices of material objects around him, beginning with Kenji’s voice coming from his cremated ashes. He is of mixed race as Kenji was both Japanese and Korean, which distinguishes him from his mother Annabelle and causes strangers in public to ask if they are related; Annabelle is likely white, even though the narrative never states this directly. Benny’s estrangement from his mother is exacerbated following Kenji’s death as they have conflicting coping mechanisms, with Annabelle bringing more material objects into the house, causing Benny to be overwhelmed with their voices.

As Benny starts high school, cuts class to spend his days with Alice and Slavoj in the library, and becomes further distanced from his mother, he speaks in direct address to the Book as it narrates his story and tries to direct its plot in a more beneficial direction. Benny’s relationship with the Book exists in in the past, present, and future: The plot follows Benny’s meeting with the Book at the same time that it conveys the conversations Benny and the Book have about the narrative they are writing.