Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Sindija Franzetti (Chalmers University of Technology)

Ed. by Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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First circulation or publication Jun 2019

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United States (Country of Origin)

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Novel

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Ocean Vuong’s

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

is a letter not meant to be read – a son’s reaching out to his illiterate mother. “Dear Ma”, it begins, “I am writing to reach you – even if each word I put down is one word further from where you are” (Vuong 3). These letters were sent to Little Dog’s mother, Rose, creating a touching paradox where physical communication exists but understanding – and the very possibility of a response – remain elusive. The narrator nicknamed ‘Little Dog”, following a Vietnamese tradition of giving children undesirable names to protect them from evil spirits, crafts a narrative that grapples with generational, cultural, and linguistic divides. Through the intimate epistolary address, Vuong intertwines personal history with…

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2441 words

Citation: Franzetti, Sindija. "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 November 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41556, accessed 21 December 2024.]

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

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