#oceanvuong — Public Fediverse posts

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

By Ocean Vuong - The Vietnamese American writer's beautiful thoughtful debut novel is written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterate mother. Highly recommended

#onearthwerebrieflygorgeous #oceanvuong #books #novel #mybookshelf #mybooklist #writer #author #booklist #bookworld #ilovebooks #reading

It's a short novel but had to read one part at a time each day for three days to mourn and heal a bit in between. This imaginary boy is inside me now, until he's ready to leave. A new favourite and highly recommended.

#oceanvuong #books #bookstodon #ReadingCommunity #onearthwerebrieflygorgeous

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: 9780525562047 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600633/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-by-ocean-vuong/

Ocean Vuong’s quote and signature.

I saw someone sitting next to me on the commuter train reading his book, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
#oceanvuong #literature #writer

There are times when the world seems slightly out of reach. Not absent, just a little harder to feel connected to.
It's common to interpret that as something missing, or to move past it quickly. The world doesn't disappear in those moments. You remain part of it, even if the contact feels different than expected.
Often the body responds before you notice as tension, shortened breath, an effort to return to something more familiar.

This week's reflection @ https://emotus.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-the-bottleneck #OceanVuong

"The hardest thing in the world is to live only once."

-- #FirstSentences of Ocean Vuong, *The Emperor of Gladness*

---
Started this on a whim last night. Have to read it pretty quickly to get it back to the library in time, so might not have a ton of #ReadingNotes ... but I'll use this as a spot for sharing thoughts.

Despite starting it on a whim, already 100 pages in --- so not too shabby so far!

#OceanVuong #NowReading

Was planning to start Aaron John Curtis's *Old School Indian* this afternoon, but my wife brought home a copy of Ocean Vuong's *Emperor of Gladness* from the library and she hasn't started it yet.

Two very different books but am suddenly a bit torn. And by the rules of international engagement, I do believe that, since she hasn't started the Vuong yet, I can legally start it and then it's mine to finish.

Do I want a "poetic, dramatic, and vivid story," one that is "tender and moving," showing the "profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life" (Vuong, from the book jacket)?

Or do I want "humor, sincerity, and heartbreak," a book that is "brave, funny, and irreverent" (Curtis)?

Hmmm....

#Bookstodon #AaronJohnCurtis #OceanVuong

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in July https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/31/what-were-reading-writers-and-readers-on-the-books-they-enjoyed-in-july #BarbaraKingsolver #Crimefiction #IrvineWelsh #OceanVuong #Culture #Fiction #Poetry #Books

Just finished Ocean Vuong's newest novel, The Emperor of Gladness, and, holy shit. Very different from his other work, was not expecting to encounter one of the nicest stories I've ever read, often having a Little Miss Sunshine vibe but with found family.

#bookstodon #OceanVuong

If you want your heart broken by every page, I highly recommend #OceanVuong's Time is a Mother.

#bookstodon #poetry

Few things are as purely pleasing as a new stack of book friends. 📚​

—Night Sky with Exit Wounds by #OceanVuong

—Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

—The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by #MarianaEnríquez

—White Walls: Collected Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya

—Harrow by Joy Williams

—Future Feeling by Joss Lake

—Never Say You Can't Survive by @charliejane

—Silver Nitrate by #SilviaMorenoGarcia

@bookstodon #AmReading #Bookstodon #Bibliophile #BookLovers #ForeverReading

“Lest we forget,
a morgue is also a community center.”

- Ocean Vuong, Time Is a Mother

(From a DVAN book review: “In his sophomore poetry collection, Time is a Mother, Ocean Vuong meditates on how we think about death as individuals and as a community, and how we shoulder the weight of intergenerational trauma. Vuong reframes death and mourning as lonely processes into something communal.”)

#HisAndHearsePress #OceanVuong #TimeIsAMother #DVAN #Poetry #Quote #GriefQuotes #LiteraryQuotes #Grief #Funeral #Morgue #DeathPositive

#OceanVuong

Just finished Ocean Vuong's glorious novel, “On Earth we're briefly gorgeous", and what can I say. I wish I had such a command of any language at all, I wish I could conjure emotions out of words with such mastery. I wish I could express what the immigrant experience feels like with such poignant clarity. I'm impressed, jealous in a good way, and eagerly recommend it to anyone.

Six stars out of five.

#theLibrary #novel #oceanvuong

@Frohmann »Auf Erden sind wir kurz grandios« von Ocean Vuong, erschienen bei btb. #OceanVuong #MeinGutesBuch #Lesen #Literatur #Bookstodon