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The Resource On earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

On earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

Creator
Author
Summary
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 twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born - a history whose epicentre 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
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
On earth we're briefly gorgeous
Title
On earth we're briefly gorgeous
Statement of responsibility
Ocean Vuong
Title variation
On earth we are briefly gorgeous
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
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 twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born - a history whose epicentre 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
Summary
A letter from a son to a mother who cannot read reveals the impact of the Vietnam War on their family history and provides a view into parts of the son's life that his mother has never known.
Theme
Storyline
Tone
Writing style
Character
Award
  • ALA Notable Book, 2020.
  • Library Journal Best Books, 2019.
http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
10781519
Cataloging source
NJB
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1988-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Vuong, Ocean
Dewey number
813.6
Index
no index present
Literary form
fiction
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Vietnamese Americans
  • Mothers and sons
Target audience
adult
Label
On earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
000065378959
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
242 pages
Isbn
9781787331501
Isbn Type
(hardback)
Lccn
be2019022307
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9781787331501
  • (Sirsi) i9781787331501
  • (OCoLC)1105166244
Label
On earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
000065378959
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
242 pages
Isbn
9781787331501
Isbn Type
(hardback)
Lccn
be2019022307
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9781787331501
  • (Sirsi) i9781787331501
  • (OCoLC)1105166244

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Genre

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