On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

A Novel

By: Ocean Vuong

Narrated by: Ocean Vuong

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

An instant New York Times Best Seller!

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 Award

Shortlisted for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Winner 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 that’s shockingly intimate and insistently universal…Not so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning.” (Ron Charles, The Washington Post)

Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s 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.

At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.

Named a Best Book of the Year by: GQ, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, Time, Esquire, The Washington Post, Apple, Good Housekeeping, The New Yorker, The New York Public Library, Elle.com, The Guardian, The A.V. Club, NPR, Lithub, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue.com, The San Francisco Chronicle, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, and more!

©2019 Ocean Vuong (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Vuong writes about the yearning for connection that afflicts immigrants. But ‘ocean’ also describes the distinctive way Vuong writes: His words are liquid, flowing, rolling, teasing, mighty and overpowering. When Vuong’s mother gave him the oh-so-apt name of Ocean, she inadvertently called into being a writer whose language some of us readers could happily drown in.... Like so many immigrant writers before him, Vuong has taken the English he acquired with difficulty and not only made it his own - he’s made it better.” (Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air)

“In order to survive, Little Dog has to receive and reject another kind of violence, too: he must see his mother through the American eyes that scan her for weakness and incompetence and, at best, disregard her, the way that evil spirits might ignore a child named for a little dog. There is a staggering tenderness in the way that Little Dog holds all of this within himself, absorbing it and refusing to pass it on. Reading On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous can feel like watching an act of endurance art, or a slow, strange piece of magic in which bones become sonatas, to borrow one of Vuong’s metaphors.” (Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker)

“A bruised, breathtaking love letter never meant to be sent. A powerful testimony to magic and loss. A marvel.” (Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf)

“This book - gorgeous is right there in the title - finds incredible, aching beauty in the deep observation of love in many forms. Ocean Vuong's debut novel contains all the power of his poetry, and I finished the book knowing that we are seeing only the very beginning of his truly magnificent talent.” (Emma Straub, author of Modern Lovers and The Vacationers)

Fractured Story

I really wanted to like this story as I was eager to hear about a real Viatamese family growing up before and after the war and their struggles in America. However, the authors style of intertwining many different stories and timelines made it hard to follow. Also, the character development of Travis was shallow. The long descriptions and analogies went on and on and were hard to follow. I was tempted to not finish the book after the graphic description of the sex act with Travis which added little to the story for me . The descriptions of the sites were often flowery and poetic but very long and didn't fit in with the culture . Overall, the story line was fractured and left me not knowing what kind of a person Little Dog or Travis were, although Lan and Rose's characters were pretty well developed. Also, I was left with little hope for Little Dog and a deep sadness.

Listen to this one.

Poetry, and yet, its prose. Such excellent visual presentation by a gifted poet! Not an easily listened to work, but an eye opener! I doubt anyone other than the author could have read this book.

A modern masterpiece

I often do not listen to personal narratives such as this, but I may begin doing so more often. I had seen an interview with the author somewhere and was very interested in reading this. I am so glad I did so because this gave me an incredible look into a life very different from my own that I could still relate to greatly. This book made me want to write.

10 stars!!!!

I love this book so much. It is poetic and beautifully written. Hartford Connecticut is my home so it really hit home. This is a must read especially if you like poetry. It's like a book long poem.

Quite beautiful, but...

I can fast I wish I understood more call of the beautiful metaphors utilized by this author. I’m sure that someone who has an easier time with poetry would find this Book magical. Me, I found myself wondering more often than I had wished, “I wonder how that beautiful metaphor applies?” (I’m especially referring to the animal metaphors)
That said, it is definitely a book to prioritize reading.
I noticed that I just referred to “reading” this book (above) and I know why I accidentally did that: it’s because I found it wrenching (as In painful) to listen to the author read this book. (I read the first half and then listened to the second half because I was traveling.)
Either the author-reader intends to convey a wrenching pain throughout the book, or he read it without the subtleties of the voice that that would indicate the other emotions that he did wish to convey. I suppose a third possibility would be that there’s a cultural impact on his presentation of his book… in any case, what I’m trying to convey is that listening to this book impacted on me quite differently and was a distraction, compared to reading it. It’s the first audible book that I struggled to continue to listen to. I will likely return to reading the hardcopy at another time. This author conveys his intimate, precious -and wrenching-experiences in such a poignant way. I do hope I reread it again To see if my experience of it evolves.

Beautiful and exhausting

I was delighted by Vuong's poetic prose until my ears became exhausted. It's lovely but sometimes reads like a novel length poem. Still, it's a really creative work and a moving, interesting read/listen. Vuong's narration was well done.

Poetry but sad

The book is abstract and beautifully artistically written. But i would recommend it for a person like me: an immigrant w PTSD and deep depression…. Coming from war! It was very difficult to listen and made me more sad…

One of the greatest...

By far one of the most profound books I have ever listened to. I will now read it, and share it with anyone who will receive it.

words

Her use of words created visuals in the mind like no other arthor
absolutely stunning!

Very moving, gut wrenching

The narrator carries you along in his search to make sense of his world. Great dialog.