Ocean Vuong

"[A] portrait of a family, and a testament to 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 epicenter 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...

"Ocean Vuong's second collection of poetry looks inward, on the aftershocks of his mother's death, and the struggle--and rewards--of staying present in the world. [The volume] moves outward and onward, in concert with the themes of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, as Vuong continues, through his work, his ... exploration of personal trauma, of what it means to be the product of an American war in America, and how to circle these fragmented tragedies...