Ocean Vuong
Author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
About the Author
Image credit: Ocean Vuong, 2019
Works by Ocean Vuong
Associated Works
Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience (2019) — Contributor — 68 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Vuong, Ocean
- Legal name
- Vương Quốc Vinh
- Other names
- Ocean Vuong
- Birthdate
- 1988-10-14
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Vietnam (birth)
USA - Birthplace
- Saigon, Vietnam
- Places of residence
- Hartford, Connecticut, USA
New York, New York, USA - Education
- Université de New York (M.A., MFA, Maîtrise en beaux-Arts)
Brooklyn College, City University de New York (B.A., Anglais)
Université Pace, New-Yok (Passage, Marketing)
Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, Connecticut - Occupations
- poet
editor - Organizations
- Université du Massachusetts, Amherst (Professeur agrégé, MFA)
- Awards and honors
- MacArthur Fellowship (2019)
Members
Reviews
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel by Ocean Vuong
Not a good match for me. There were parts that were good- the immigrant experience, the underbelly of US society, the character of his grandmother Lan, but also parts that were gratuitous like cruelty to animals and the mechanical details of sex that seemed to have been randomly inserted just because. The prose is fine in general and there are some good lines, though I wasn’t enraptured as others seem to have been, which is a similar experience to how his poetry has struck me.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous follows Little Dog through a letter to his mother. His whole life, he has lived in a limbo between two different cultures and languages, which have hindered his ability to connect with his mother. So, he uses this letter, despite his mother being illiterate, to create a form of connection with her through language, which he has never been able to fully achieve.
The writing is exquisite and beautiful, filled with poetry, prose, and musings on life and human connections. It works really well at showing the disconnect Little Dog has with language and communicating, specifically with his mother.
I listened to this on audiobook, and I will absolutely be purchasing this book so I can re-read and annotate it.
Trigger warnings:
- Drug abuse/addiction
- Vietnam war
- Animal abuse
- Homophobia
- Xenophobia/racism
- Abuse (domestic, child, sexual) … (more)
The writing is exquisite and beautiful, filled with poetry, prose, and musings on life and human connections. It works really well at showing the disconnect Little Dog has with language and communicating, specifically with his mother.
I listened to this on audiobook, and I will absolutely be purchasing this book so I can re-read and annotate it.
Trigger warnings:
- Vietnam war
- Animal abuse
- Homophobia
- Xenophobia/racism
- Abuse (domestic, child, sexual)
Lists
AP Lit (1)
2010s (1)
Five star books (1)
BookTok Adult (1)
Indie Next Picks (1)
Favourite Books (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 11
- Also by
- 10
- Members
- 5,283
- Popularity
- #4,714
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 164
- ISBNs
- 75
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 4
