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Spectator
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Misfits unite: The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong, reviewed
As a poet, Ocean Vuong has won every prize going. Now here's The Emperor of Gladness, his second novel. His first, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, a coming-of-age story, is currently being filmed. This latest oneis wild, unwieldy and too long. It is fiction/autofiction mixed with 19th- and 20th-century warfare, plus contemporary angst and craziness. It has one preposterous scene that you wish were true, and never has a title been so misleading. It's a book of moral, imaginative ideas with gripping stories, wonderful characters and writing that's poetic and witty. I loved it. It opens with an introduction to the rural town of East Gladness, Connecticut, its citizens 'not ambivalent to hope'. It's like a tawdry Middlemarch until you meet the main protagonist, Hai, aged 19, who's about to throw himself off a bridge. He's coaxed down by a 'kooky' old lady who spots him from her home across the river and takes him in. Grazina, 83 and Lithuanian, has dementia. Hai, a gay Vietnamese refugee, college drop-out and painkiller addict, becomes her unlikely carer. There's an echo of a children's story when, in the basement of Grazina's ramshackle house, Hai discovers the kind of library every budding writer might long for. But Vuong takes the novel beyond childhood in his exploration of the inherited trauma of war and violence. A key theme is Vuong's challenging of the idea that life without the impulse to change and improve (through work, education and marriage) is worthless. Hai and Grazina, lacking such impulse – one being too old, the other not ready – are pushed to the margins of society. As are the group of misfits whom Hai joins when he starts working at the fast-food diner, HomeMarket. Among them is Maureen, occasional performance wrestler hooked on the lizard conspiracy (underground dinosaurs feeding on human suffering) and Hai's cousin Sony, autistic, obsessed with battles, the film Gettysburg and his family's escape from Vietnam. Most dramatic and moving are the episodes when Hai joins Grazina in her dementia memories. Play-acting, he becomes a US Army Sergeant Pepper helping her escape Stalin's purges in Lithuania. The preposterous scene is the one in which Grazina's obnoxious son Lucas and a social worker arrive with a plan to put the old lady into a home. In dementia play, Sergeant Pepper and Grazina use grenades (the cruet set) and Grazina's pistol (her finger) to rout the Nazis (son and social worker), albeit temporarily. It's a terrific scene. You want to cheer. You know they won't win. Vuong has said that he wanted to 'charge' his characters with 'transformation without change'. This happens to the HomeMarket team, 'people bound by nothing but toil in a tiny kitchen' when they bond with Sony in his grief for the loss both of his real and his fantasy father. And it's profoundly there in the tenderness that develops between Grazina and Hai. All the characters find dignity and fulfilment not by their achievements or aspirations, but in caring for each other. Hey! This is a love story! And the book's title? It would be a spoiler to tell.
USA Today
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Need a new book? 10 new releases you can read right now from romance to thriller
Need a new book? 10 new releases you can read right now from romance to thriller What do a ghost-conjuring chef, a fast-food employee and a world-renowned dying artist have in common? They're the topics of some of our favorite new books from May, of course. Check out the titles we recommend this month, including new Stephen King, a swoony new romantasy bestseller and the book that Fredrik Backman said could be his last. Or, take a look at the titles we're most excited about this summer. Plus, there's still time to read for USA TODAY's Spring Book Challenge, where you could win a $100 gift card to just by filling out our bingo card. What should I read next? 10 new books from May Summer is just around the corner, and it's time to get your TBR ready for beach reading and vacations. From dystopian tales to steamy romance, here are the titles we think you should pick up at your local bookstore or library. 'The Emperor of Gladness' by Ocean Vuong 'The Emperor of Gladness' has all the poetic meditations and lyricism of Vuong's 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous,' but with a lovable cast of found family characters that practically leap off the page. In it, a young man about to commit suicide is stopped by an elderly woman with dementia. What results is an unlikely friendship, a fast-food job that reunites him with his cousin and a new supportive, quirky community. 'Aftertaste' by Daria Lavelle This dark comedy set in the culinary world follows a Ukrainian American chef who can conjure spirits of the dead by cooking their favorite foods. Haunted by the death of his father and yearning to use his powers for good, Kostya opens a restaurant where loved ones reunite over one last meal. With carefully crafted depictions of grief and mouth-watering culinary adventures, this is the perfect novel for the always hungry and for fans of 'The Bear.' 'My Friends' by Fredrik Backman Told in two timelines, Backman's heartwarming latest is about four childhood friends and one transformative summer. Their bond inspires a painting that eventually becomes, decades later, the most famous painting in the world. In the present, a teenager who cherishes that painting finds herself in unexpected ownership of the original. Her cross-country journey to learn how the artwork came to be connects surprising roads in her own life and the painting's subjects. 'Can't Get Enough' by Kennedy Ryan In 'Can't Get Enough,' ambitious, goal-oriented Hendrix Barry is thriving in most aspects of life, but caring for her aging parent means she doesn't have time for romance. But then she meets tech mogul Maverick Bell, and the one man she can't have seems to be the perfect match. 'Things in Nature Merely Grow' by Yiyun Li Writer and professor Li meditates on the loss of her two sons – both from suicide, seven years apart. Li searches for the words that might fill the loss of Vincent at age 16 in 2017 and James at age 19 in 2024. 'Things In Nature Merely Grow' is less of a book about grief and more a tribute to radical acceptance and the lasting power of memory. 'Immaculate Conception' by Ling Ling Huang Twisty dystopian horror 'Immaculate Conception' follows art students whose work and study are upended by artificial intelligence. Grappling with her artistic purpose and jealous of her friend Mathilde's global success, protagonist Enka comes across a new technology that would let her enter Mathilde's mind, inextricably linking the co-dependent friends. 'Never Flinch' by Stephen King King deviates from his terrifying horror to pen a detective novel in 'Never Flinch.' This mystery thriller puts beloved character Holly Gibney at the forefront, now working for a celebrity women's rights activist whose lecture tour is under threat by a violent mystery assailant. At the same time, Holly helps her police detective friend with a serial killer on a revenge mission. 'Along Came Amor' by Alexis Daria This steamy romance is the third and final installment of Daria's 'Primas of Power' series. When Ava Rodriguez's now ex-husband leaves her to chase dreams that don't include her, she tries to embrace her new singleness in a one-night stand with Roman Vázquez. Type-A Roman is laser-focused on building his empire, so he initially agrees to her no-strings-attached, no-feelings situationship. That comes crashing when the pair run into each other at Ava's family function. 'Shield of Sparrows' by Devney Perry This new romantasy series, billed for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, sees a forgotten princess changing her fate. She's never meant to rule, only to obey her father. But after an encounter with a legendary monster hunter and a prince upends her life, she realizes she can make her own rules, becoming the warrior she was meant to be. 'How to Be Well' by Amy Larocca Everyone knows a 'well woman' – the spiritual, skincare aficionado who is just one cog in the machine of the multibillion-dollar wellness industry. Journalist Larocca touches on her own experience getting sucked into wellness culture before ripping back the curtain at the science behind it, as well as the standards of American womanhood driving the profits. Support AAPI authors all year: 10 new books by Asian authors to read Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Oprah Winfrey unveils "The Emperor of Gladness" as her latest book club pick
Oprah Winfrey reveals new book club pick: "The Emperor of Gladness" by Ocean Vuong Oprah Winfrey unveiled her latest book club selection Tuesday on "CBS Mornings," choosing "The Emperor of Gladness" by acclaimed author and poet Ocean Vuong. During the exclusive announcement, Winfrey described the novel as containing "some of the most beautiful writing I've experienced in my lifetime," and praised Vuong's ability to "capture the essence of just ordinary people." "When I tell everybody, would you just read the first chapter. And if you read the first chapter, you're gonna be hooked," Winfrey said. The novel opens with the line, "The hardest thing in the world is to live only once," and follows 19-year-old Hai who develops a profound connection with Grazina, an elderly widow suffering from dementia. In the interview, Vuong shared that the story was inspired by personal experience, noting that suicide is "a very personal thing" following his uncle's death by suicide in 2012. Rather than focusing solely on the moment of crisis, Vuong said he wanted to explore what happens after. "Often in stories or news segments, we have the suicide at the edge of the bridge. And then when they come off that bridge, and God willing they do, we all clap. Everything's back to normal," Vuong said. "But I've always thought what's happened for that person on day two of that decision. Day three, day 20. Because their life still is in shambles." The author said the unlikely bond between his main characters, noting that "both the young people and the very old have been pushed on the margins" of society, creating "masses amount of loneliness on both sides of that age spectrum." There is also a personal connection between Winfrey and Vuong, who shared that his mother, a nail salon worker in Connecticut, regularly watched "The Oprah Show." Vuong said as a child, he watched women feel empowered through reading. When asked what his late mother would think of his book being selected for Oprah's Book Club, Vuong said it would be the only literary achievement she would have fully recognized, saying "This is the only thing that would be legible to her." "I hope she's proud of me. I hope she's seeing me somewhere," Vuong said. Vuong's previous work includes the bestselling novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" and the poetry collection "Time Is a Mother." "The Emperor of Gladness" is on sale now.
Telegraph
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Gen Z adore this novelist – but he has run out of road
The Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong 's second novel, begins with an exhortation to observe. Look, it says: in the fictional town of East Gladness, in Connecticut, lawns are overrun, roadkill is abused, and veterans are miserably glued to their TVs. It's the kind of place through which Vuong is poised to explore the pivotal issues of late capitalism – class, labour, race – and from which the book's troubled protagonist Hai would like to escape forever. But as Hai prepares to jump to his death from a bridge, he's saved by an elderly Lithuanian woman, Grazina. The next morning, Grazina offers him a job as her carer, a ludicrously ill-advised decision that's only somewhat explained by her dementia. Hai, having lied to his mother that he's studying medicine in Boston, accepts. Thus the novel's stage is set for the life-changing and unlikely friendship that will follow. Vuong's 2019 debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, featured an autobiographical narrator, Little Dog. Through letters, Vuong excavated a tragic family history that moved from wartime Vietnam to a nail salon in New England. The book enjoyed a rapturous commercial reception, particularly with younger readers, and was marked by an earnestness and sincerity also present in his two poetry collections. 'Vuong refuses to be embarrassed,' said Viet Thanh Nguyen, admiringly. Critics were more mixed, but the novel's success was enough to see Vuong catapulted to literary fame, and expectations have since been high for his sophomore outing. Fans of Vuong will be satisfied by The Emperor of Gladness, but it's unlikely to convert any sceptics. The novel's characters and structure are new – here, Vuong uses the third person – but core subjects remain, and the prose is similarly heartfelt. Like Little Dog, Hai (an aspiring writer) is the son of Vietnamese immigrants who moved to New England and soon found themselves battling grief and deprivation. Aside from Hai and Grazina, the book is populated by a cast of downtrodden characters, each with their own personal baggage. Everyone is short on cash; everyone has been ravaged by drugs and alcohol, particularly opioids, and the novel's concern with the systems that facilitate those addictions is one of its strengths. The citizens of East Gladness work numbing, exhausting gigs, propping up a system from which they cannot benefit. Vuong is skilled at invoking the spirit and geography of East Gladness, and the book is at its best when Hai is working at HomeMarket, shooting the breeze with his motley crew of coworkers. In these moments, there's a sense of ease that I wished had been sustained. Elsewhere, readers are asked to suspend their disbelief. Grazina's dementia forces her backwards into the shadow of her war-torn youth; Hai spends a good portion of the novel calling himself 'Sgt. Pepper' and acting out with Grazina the violent geopolitical conflicts of the Second World War. When Hai goes to rehab, he finds the same Mary Oliver quote – 'what will you do with your one wild and precious life' – pinned on every wall. There's an actual written rendition of 'The Parting Glass' towards the end, warbled tearfully by one of Hai's friends. Vuong is a skilled writer, but not a subtle one. In his work, it's as though the world can, and should, be constantly mined for sentiment. This can be exhausting. 'You tried to locate yourself inside an immeasurable universe,' Hai tells Grazina. 'And no one knows where you are and you feel, for a tiny second, that you have no parents, that they never existed at all, which is impossible and shameful to love, but I did.' This declaration is shortly followed by: 'the superpower of being young is that you're closest to being nothing – which is also the same as being very old.' Barely a paragraph later: 'Somebody goes ahead and dies and all of a sudden you become a box for them, he thought, you store these things that no one has ever seen and you go on living like that, your head a coffin to keep memories of the dead alive.' Each page contains some kind of epiphany that seems designed to have been underlined. Vuong allows for no breathing room between such breathless proclamations, and the reader is barely able to react emotionally before another is foisted upon them. Ultimately, the effect is claustrophobic. By the closing metaphor, I couldn't help wishing that Vuong had stepped back a little – and let the dingy, intriguing ecosystem of East Gladness speak for itself.
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Ocean Vuong Was Ready to Kill. Then a Moment of Grace Changed His Life.
Seen in a soft light, Ocean Vuong's life looks like a modern American fairy tale. In 1990, he and his mother came to this country as refugees from Vietnam. They landed in small-town Connecticut and began muddling their way through an existence limited by low-paying work and cultural and personal alienation. Vuong seemed destined to stay stuck on society's margins. Until, that is, he discovered literature and his own enormous gift for writing. Now Vuong is one of the country's most esteemed poets, winner of a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (a.k.a. a 'genius grant') and a tenured professor in the creative-writing department at New York University. His bittersweet debut novel, 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous,' a marvel of emotional and narrative compression published in 2019, became a best seller and, over time, a bona fide millennial classic. All this, and he's only 36. But there's another side to Vuong's narrative, one that doesn't resolve so neatly. It's that side of his history that informs his new novel, 'The Emperor of Gladness,' which will be published on May 13. At 400-plus pages, with a large cast of characters and comedic set pieces and touching on fast-food jobs, elder care and the static nature of most American lives, 'Emperor' is a bigger book in every way than Vuong's first. It also provided the occasion for what turned out to be one of the most emotionally intense interviews I've ever done. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | iHeart | NYT Audio App Your new novel is based in part on your experiences working at fast-food restaurants. Where did you work? I worked at a place called Boston Market and a place called Panera. I was living in HUD housing with my mother and my brother. It was this situation where if your family income surpassed [a certain minimum], then you can't live there anymore. In the summers, I worked on a tobacco farm, which was $9.50 cash, no Uncle Sam involved. You confront, as a teenager, this antithesis of American prosperity and upward mobility where it's like, 'Don't make too much money, or we'll be homeless.' So I went to Boston Market, which is a very eye-opening experience of American life. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
