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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel

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 twenties, 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 i...show more

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252 pages

Average rating: 7.2

336 RATINGS

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10 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

Anonymous
Jan 09, 2024
6/10 stars
This book was beautiful and unique. I almost didn’t rate it because it reads somewhat like a memoir / autobiography and as a rule I don’t rate peoples stories anymore BUT this is fiction so oh well. This book had all the right ingredients for a powerful novel right up my alley (messed up family / tragic tale / immigrant experience / LGBTQ) but it felt lacking upon assembly
margardenlady
Dec 27, 2023
8/10 stars
Powerful yet self-effacing novel. This addresses sensitively so many current or recent issues : racism, immigrant status, Viet nam war, OxyContin addiction, mental health, growing up LGBTQIA., generational memory. So much of the purpose in this reads as poetry. Billed as a novel, this reads more like a memoir- drawing you in to the story and sympathizing immediately.
Anonymous
Dec 04, 2023
6/10 stars
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong was a beautifully written novel. Written as a letter to his mother, Little Dog pours his heart out, knowing that his mother, who is illiterate, will never read his words.

Part fiction, part memoir, this tells the story of Little Dog’s grandma, Lan, who had to escape Vietnam during the war, of Rose, her daughter who works in a nail salon in Hartford, CT and manages to keep a roof over their heads. And...read more
felicianojass
May 10, 2023
7/10 stars
It’s difficult to review a book like this, the author’s language is nonpareil—to the extent where it can’t be interpreted, you’d simply have to be there in order to understand it, to read it, absorb it,to encapsulate the haunting message behind it. This book is purely fiction, but it’s so raw, and so personal that it felt like reading an actual letter meant for someone else. It felt invasive but at the same time, earnest. A lot of heavy subject m...read more
maxliv
Mar 10, 2023
10/10 stars
Nada além do sentimento de impotência de não conseguir colocar em palavras tudo que poderia ser dito sobre um livro tão belo e brutal como esse. Mas também tudo que a frase
"Se desculpar vale a pena, se desculpar mesmo, ou especialmente, quando você não tem culpa, vale cada sílaba de autodepreciação que sai de sua boca. Porque a boca precisa comer."
significa para quem já se calou pela fome e pelo medo.

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