On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel by Ocean Vuong

4.5 (8)
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Web ID: 15661024

An instant New York Times Bestseller!Longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction, the Carnegie Medal in Fiction, the 2019 Aspen Words Literacy Prize, and the PEN/Hemingway Debut Novel AwardShortlisted for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel PrizeWinner of the 2019 New England Book Award for Fiction!Named one of the most anticipated books of 2019 by Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Oprah.com, Huffington Post, The A.V. Club, Nylon, The Week, The Rumpus, The Millions, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and more.A lyrical work of self-discovery thats shockingly intimate and insistently universalNot so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning.Ron Charles, The Washington PostPoet Ocean Vuongs debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytellingOn Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a familys history that began before he was born a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range - Upto 18 Years
    • Format - Paperback
    • Product dimensions - 7.7" W x 5" H x 0.8" D
    • Genre - Fiction
    • Publication Date: 06-01-2021
    • Page Count - 256
    • ISBN - 9780525562047
    • Ocean Vuong (Author)
    • Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
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Ratings & Reviews

4.5/5

8 star ratings & reviews

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8 reviews
17 days ago
from Los Angeles

A beautiful beautiful book

I never thought I'd call a book or writing beautiful but it came so natural for this book (I need to read more). I am finishing the audio book on Libby and have decided to buy the paperback. He's the narrator of the audio book and I think it adds so much sincerity and honesty. The book, or perhaps his voice carries a sad sentiment too. Strangely enough, I share that sadness. It's a book I know I will keep going back to.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

8 months ago
from Athens, OH

Stunning

An absolutely STUNNING debut. Written from a son to his mother, this novel charts a young queer man's childhood and adolesance, his relationship with his mother, and his relationship with himself. An extraordinary examination of the mother/son dynamic and the plight of Vietnamese immigrants in the early 2000s, this novel is absolutely not one to miss.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

10 months ago

Beautifully Written

One of the best books I’ve read this year!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from B&N Home Office

My copy is ruined with Love

Vuong’s writing is so, so, so incredibly gorgeous, I could not help but dog-ear and underline a plethora of pages that my copy has taken on a new form. The beauty of his prose is not gratuitous but blends seamlessly with the subject matter making this a modern classic. At least it deserves to be.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from OK

Great Read

In awe of how beautifully written it is. A beautiful story of poverty, love, and family is weaved together and it’s one you absolutely should read at least once.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 years ago
from Reno, NV

Breathtaking

Ocean Vuong's writing is absolutely beautiful. Everything about this book from the prose to the story to the characters is incredible and truly highlights Vuong's mastery in language. This has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested. It will blow you away.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from NJ

Wished I liked it more

I received this as a Christmas gift from my brother, who knew I’d been interested in reading it for a while. However, upon finishing, I’m met with mild disappointment. This book sounded like something right up my ally—beautiful prose and a character driven narrative. But I have a couple problems. The first stems from the fact that you can tell this is written by a poet. That’s good in one sense, as Vuong makes ordinary objects and mundane experiences beautiful through his writing. On the other hand, he writes sections of chapters as if stanzas. Especially in the first chapter, there is seemingly a page break (and therefore, a subject/setting change) every half a page. After a few sections, Vuong writes another connecting it back to a previous section. Though this works with poetry, I don’t think it works in this medium. There is this constant sense of feeling unsettled, like you would finally sit in one spot before you were dragged up again. I acknowledge that this could be a literary device to mirror our protagonist’s experiences. But if that was the intended purpose, my enjoyment of the novel still suffered because of it. This feeling lessens as the book goes on, though it still lingers. Second, I found some parts to be slow or even a little boring. Part of me feels that I just read this book at the wrong time. Perhaps in a couple of years, I’ll pick it up again and adore it. But right now, it’s a solid three stars.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from The Deepish South

I wanted to like it more...

Writers take note: I bought this book because of the title. Has a more wonderful title ever been written? That, and it sat on the front table at Barnes and Noble every time I visited. It might still be there, for all I know, or moved back a few rows to make room for the latest and greatest. The poet-writer shines through the prose, though, and it's a worthy read for the words themselves. But the story never caught me. I caught myself scanning large swaths quickly, looking for those few sentences that made the time worth it.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com