ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS: Ocean Vuong
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS
by Ocean Vuong
I first fell in love with Ocean Vuong while reading his poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. This, his first novel, is just as devastatingly beautiful. It’s a young writer’s letter to his mother, a letter he believes she will never read. In it he tells the story of a boy growing up in the space between two languages, carrying the pain of his family’s past while learning how to live in his own skin. Raw, tender and occasionally so emotionally honest its almost brutal, this one will linger with you.
- Reviewed by Kat