Ocean Vuong, on Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous (USA: Penguin Press, 2019)

Abstract

Set in New York, the book is filled with the experiences of a boy from Vietnam as he struggles with both his identity as well as sexuality. Even as everyone interprets a work of literature in their own way, I see a sense of urgency in the tone often taken by the author. There is an attempt to establish that all those living in one house may be dealing with more than one hierarchy in a neighborhood, a city, a country. What is unsettling is the impact of the perceptions of those around on the narrator and his family, the lack of acceptance for anything that looks different from the rest is exhausting and attacks the spirit of those who are already suffering from financial disparity as well as violence within a household.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4318677