On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
{{short description|2019 novel by Ocean Vuong}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name = On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
| image = On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Vuong novel).png
| alt =
| caption = First edition cover
| author = Ocean Vuong
| audio_read_by = Ocean Vuong
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| genre =
| set_in =
| publisher = Penguin Press
| pub_date = June 4, 2019
| media_type = Print (Hardcover)
| pages = 256
| awards =
| isbn = 978-0-525-56202-3
| isbn_note =
| dewey = 813/.6
| congress = PS3622.U96 O52 2019
}}
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is the debut novel by Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, published by Penguin Press on June 4, 2019.{{Cite web |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600633/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-by-ocean-vuong/9780525562023 |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong |work=Penguin Random House |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202324/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600633/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-by-ocean-vuong/9780525562023/ |url-status=live}} An epistolary novel, it is written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterate mother. It was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction{{Cite web |date=May 4, 2020 |title=Our Video Celebration of the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award |url=https://www.penfaulkner.org/2020/05/04/our-video-celebration-of-the-2020-pen-faulkner-award/ |work= PEN/Faulkner Foundation |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226205255/https://www.penfaulkner.org/2020/05/04/our-video-celebration-of-the-2020-pen-faulkner-award/ |url-status=live}} and was longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction.{{Cite web |date=September 19, 2019 |title=2019 National Book Awards Longlist for Fiction |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/2019-national-book-awards-longlist-for-fiction/ |work=National Book Foundation |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226205255/https://www.nationalbook.org/2019-national-book-awards-longlist-for-fiction/ |url-status=live}}
Plot
The novel is written in the form of a letter by a young Vietnamese American nicknamed Little Dog, whose life mirrors that of Ocean Vuong. The letter is written to Little Dog's mother Hong, more often called or translated as Rose (hồng). The novel has a nonlinear narrative structure.{{Cite web |url=https://www.inquirer.com/arts/books/earth-briefly-gorgeous-ocean-vuong-bethany-ao-20190621.html |title='On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong: A stunningly lyrical exploration of familial love and language |last=Ao |first=Bethany |date=June 21, 2019 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202652/https://www.inquirer.com/arts/books/earth-briefly-gorgeous-ocean-vuong-bethany-ao-20190621.html |url-status=live}}
The novel also recounts the life of Little Dog's grandmother, Lan, who escapes an arranged marriage during the Vietnam War and becomes a prostitute. She's four months pregnant when she meets a white American soldier. They marry and she gives birth to a child, Rose. Later, when Rose is Little Dog's mother, she is barely literate, having left school at the age of five when her schoolhouse in Vietnam collapsed during an American napalm raid. She suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder as a result. Rose marries an abusive man but eventually separates from him.
Working in a nail salon, she struggles as a single parent living in Hartford, Connecticut with her son and her mother Lan. Living in America as refugees, the three can barely speak English. Little Dog, who is gay, is abused by his mother throughout his childhood. Halfway through the novel, Little Dog meets a young white man named Trevor while working on a tobacco farm one summer, and the two begin a romantic relationship. Trevor eventually becomes addicted to opioids and later overdoses and dies.{{Cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-beauty-of-men-ocean-vuongs-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |title=The Beauty of Men: Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" |author=Min Hyoung Song |date=June 24, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Review of Books|access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202620/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-beauty-of-men-ocean-vuongs-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/ocean-vuong/ocean-vuong-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous |title=Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Reads More Like a Memoir Than a Novel |last=Zarley |first=B. David |date=July 17, 2019 |work=Paste |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202744/https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/ocean-vuong/ocean-vuong-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.gq.com/story/ocean-vuong-interview |title=Ocean Vuong Explores the Coming-of-Age of Queerness |last=Kuga |first=Mitchell |date=June 24, 2019 |work=GQ |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202922/https://www.gq.com/story/ocean-vuong-interview |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/06/going-home-ocean-vuong-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/590938/ |url-access=subscription |title=Going Home With Ocean Vuong |last=Chow |first=Kat |date=June 4, 2019 |work=The Atlantic |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 22, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231222192614/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/06/going-home-ocean-vuong-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/590938/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/06/05/survival-as-a-creative-force-an-interview-with-ocean-vuong/ |title=Survival as a Creative Force: An Interview with Ocean Vuong |last=Quong |first=Spencer |date=June 5, 2019 |work=The Paris Review |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226202914/https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/06/05/survival-as-a-creative-force-an-interview-with-ocean-vuong/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-poetic-american-novel-of-queer-first-love-and-family-brutality-20190808-p52f8j.html |title=A poetic American novel of queer first love and family brutality |last=Hyde |first=Justine |date=August 16, 2019 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203040/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-poetic-american-novel-of-queer-first-love-and-family-brutality-20190808-p52f8j.html |url-status=live}}
Reception
= Critical response =
According to Book Marks, the book "positive" reviews based on 41 reviews: 22 "rave" reviews, 14 "positive" reviews, and five "mixed" reviews.{{cite web|title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |work=Book Marks|access-date= August 29, 2024 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203817/https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |url-status=live}} In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of 3.92 out of 5 from the site which was based on ten critic reviews.{{Cite web |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Reviews|url=https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127165830/https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous|archive-date=27 Nov 2021 |access-date=August 29, 2024 |website=Books in the Media}} In the September/October 2019 issue of Bookmarks, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of 4.0 out of 5 based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Ultimately, however, Vuong successfully pushes the boundaries of the novel, creating "a riot of feeling and sensation" (USA Today)".{{Cite web |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/On+Earth+We%27re+Briefly+Gorgeous.-a0614147878|access-date=August 29, 2024 |website=The Free Library}}{{Cite web |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Awards.-a0614028125|access-date=August 29, 2024 |website=The Free Library}}{{Cite web |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous|url=https://www.bibliosurf.com/Un-bref-instant-de-splendeur.html|access-date=August 29, 2024 |website=Bibliosurf |language=fr}}
The novel debuted at number six on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction best-sellers list for the week ending June 8, 2019.{{Cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/06/23/hardcover-fiction/ |title=Hardcover Fiction Books – Best Sellers |date=June 23, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203654/https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/06/23/hardcover-fiction/ |url-status=live}} It spent six weeks on the list.{{Cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/07/28/hardcover-fiction/ |title=Hardcover Fiction Books – Best Sellers |date=July 28, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203802/https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/07/28/hardcover-fiction/ |url-status=live}}
Kirkus Reviews, in a rave review, wrote, "The result is an uncategorizable hybrid of what reads like memoir, bildungsroman, and book-length poem. More important than labels, though, is the novel's earnest and open-hearted belief in the necessity of stories and language for our survival. A raw and incandescently written foray into fiction by one of our most gifted poets."{{Cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ocean-vuong/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong |date=March 17, 2019 |work=Kirkus Reviews |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203749/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ocean-vuong/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |url-status=live}} Ron Charles of The Washington Post praised the novel, calling it "permanently stunning".{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ocean-vuongs-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-is-permanently-stunning/2019/05/28/b1f8a1ba-7ff7-11e9-95a9-e2c830afe24f_story.html |title=Ocean Vuong's 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' is permanently stunning |last=Charles |first=Ron |authorlink=Ron Charles (critic) |date=May 28, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203811/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ocean-vuongs-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-is-permanently-stunning/2019/05/28/b1f8a1ba-7ff7-11e9-95a9-e2c830afe24f_story.html |url-status=live}} In his review for Time, Vietnamese-American novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote, "Vuong refuses to be embarrassed. He transforms the emotional, the visceral, the individual into the political in an unforgettable–indeed, gorgeous–novel, a book that seeks to affect its readers as profoundly as Little Dog is affected".{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5601993/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-book-review/ |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Is a Daring Tale of Queer Love and Pain |last=Nguyen |first=Viet Thanh |authorlink=Viet Thanh Nguyen |date=June 6, 2019 |magazine=Time |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226204024/https://time.com/5601993/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-book-review/ |url-status=live}} Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Steph Cha called the novel "a book of sustained beauty and lyricism, earnest and relentless, a series of high notes that trembles exquisitely almost without break."{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-ocean-vuong-earth-briefly-gorgeous-20190530-story.html |title=Ocean Vuong's 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' animates the visceral beauty of youth |last=Cha |first=Steph |authorlink=Steph Cha |date=May 31, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times
|access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226100306/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-ocean-vuong-earth-briefly-gorgeous-20190530-story.html |url-status=live}} Writing in The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino sees the "structural hallmarks of Vuong's poetry—his skill with elision, juxtaposition, and sequencing" in the novel.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/10/ocean-vuongs-life-sentences|title=Ocean Vuong's Life Sentences|last=Tolentino|first=Jia|magazine=The New Yorker|date=June 3, 2019|language=en|issn=0028-792X |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226205235/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/10/ocean-vuongs-life-sentences |url-status=live}} Heller McAlpin, writing for NPR, said that "Vuong's language soars as he writes of beauty, survival, and freedom".{{Cite news |last=McAlpin |first=Heller |date=June 5, 2019 |title='On Earth' Is Gorgeous All The Way Through |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/06/05/729691730/on-earth-is-gorgeous-all-the-way-through |work=NPR}} E. M. Tran, in the Harvard Review, found the novel's genre difficult to categorize but saw genre as beside the point, as "This writer puts into his letters all of his hurt, happiness, and self-discovery—and in giving a name to those memories and experiences, he brings them into being."{{Cite web |last=Tran |first=E. M. |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous |url=https://www.harvardreview.org/book-review/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=Harvard Review |language=en-US}}
Dwight Garner of The New York Times gave the novel a mixed review, writing, "Vuong's writing about nail salons, and the way mothers raised their children in them, is moving and rarely less than excellent. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is, at the same time, filled with showy, affected writing, with forced catharses and swollen quasi-profundities. There are enough of these that this novel's keel can lodge in the mud."{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/books/review-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-ocean-vuong.html |title='On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' Captures a Young Immigrant's Troubles and Ecstasies |last=Garner |first=Dwight |authorlink=Dwight Garner (critic) |date=May 27, 2019 |work=The New York Times
|access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226203804/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/books/review-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-ocean-vuong.html |url-status=live}} Tessa Hadley, in The Guardian, found the subject matter moving but stated that "the flow of the story is freighted with too much of a different kind of writing: an explicit commentary on the meaning of what's happening, or a sort of choric lyrical lamenting between scenes."{{Cite news |last=Hadley |first=Tessa |date=June 14, 2019 |title=On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong review – portrait of the artist as a teenager |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/14/on-earth-we-are-briefly-gorgeous-ocean-vuong-review |access-date=July 31, 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
= Censorship =
In March 2023, the Conroe Independent School District removed the book from libraries, citing low circulation.{{Cite news |last=Dominguez |first=Catherine |date=June 17, 2024 |title=Author says his book was banned. Conroe ISD says students weren't reading it. |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/conroe/article/conroe-isd-vuong-book-removal-19506223.php |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240620230636/http://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/conroe/article/conroe-isd-vuong-book-removal-19506223.php |archive-date=2024-06-20 |access-date=2025-02-24 |work=Houston Chronicle |language=en}} Vuong and PEN America labeled the removal a book ban, and Vuong offered to send free copies of the book to local LGBTQ organizations.{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Dialynn |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Mass. author offers to send free book copies to Texas after ban |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/06/05/ocean-vuong-offers-to-send-free-copies-of-his-book-to-texas-following-ban/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Boston.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=PEN America Index of School Book Bans – 2022-2023 |url=https://pen.org/book-bans/2023-banned-book-list/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=PEN America |language=en-US}}
In April 2024, a teacher at the International School Ho Chi Minh City handed out the novel to students, resulting in a post on an online group for parents calling the book "pornographic" and inappropriate for students.{{Cite news |last=Nguyen |first=Le |date=May 2, 2024 |title=HCMC school sparks controversy over Vietnamese-American author's 'pornographic' novel |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/hcmc-school-sparks-controversy-over-vietnamese-american-author-s-pornographic-novel-4741550.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241214034202/https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/hcmc-school-sparks-controversy-over-vietnamese-american-author-s-pornographic-novel-4741550.html |archive-date=2024-12-14 |access-date=2025-02-24 |work=VnExpress International |language=en}} The school took back the books and reprimanded the teacher.{{Cite news |last=Le |first=Nguyen |date=May 3, 2024 |title=HCMC international school ordered to reprimand teacher for handing out 'pornographic' novel |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/hcmc-international-school-ordered-to-reprimand-teacher-for-handing-out-pornographic-novel-4741762.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250112234809/https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/hcmc-international-school-ordered-to-reprimand-teacher-for-handing-out-pornographic-novel-4741762.html |archive-date=2025-01-12 |access-date=2025-02-24 |work=VnExpress International |language=en}} Nguyen Nguyen of the Vietnamese government body Authority of Publication, Printing and Distribution attributed the reaction to differing views about whether children should learn about sexual matters.{{Cite news |last=Thu |first=Ha |date=May 7, 2024 |title=Vietnam re-evaluating Ocean Vuong novel's 'pornographic' controversies |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/vietnam-re-evaluating-ocean-vuong-novel-s-pornographic-controversies-4743265.html |access-date=February 24, 2025 |work=VnExpress International}}
= Accolades =
Listicles
= Most Anticipated Books =
= Year-End Lists =
Adaptation
A film adaptation of the novel by A24 was announced on the December 21, 2020, episode of The A24 Podcast.{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/2020/film/news/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-movie-a24-1234871627/ |title= A24 Developing Film Adaptation of 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' |first= Jordan |last= Moreau |work= Variety |date= December 22, 2020 |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226200724/https://variety.com/2020/film/news/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-movie-a24-1234871627/ |url-status=live}} Bing Liu, director of Oscar-nominated documentary Minding the Gap, is attached to adapt the novel to screen.{{cite web|url= https://a24films.com/notes/2020/12/all-the-ways-to-be-with-bryan-washington-ocean-vuong |title= All The Ways To Be with Bryan Washington & Ocean Vuong |work= A24 |date= December 21, 2020 |access-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-date= December 26, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231226200722/https://a24films.com/notes/2020/12/all-the-ways-to-be-with-bryan-washington-ocean-vuong |url-status=live}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2019 LGBTQ-related literary works
Category:Novels by Ocean Vuong
Category:American bildungsromans
Category:Fiction about refugees and displaced people
Category:Novels set in Vietnam
Category:Novels set in Connecticut
Category:American Book Award–winning works
Category:American LGBTQ novels
Category:Novels about gay topics
Category:Novels about substance abuse