Books
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong · 2020
4.2 of 5 · 33 ratings
Open Library 4.2 (33)
- 5★48%
- 4★24%
- 3★27%
- 2★0%
- 1★0%
Formats with prices: Print new, Audio
Book details
- Author
- Ocean Vuong
- Publisher
- PENGUIN
- Published
- April 2020
- Format
- paperback
- ISBN-13
- 9780525507710
- ISBN-10
- 052550771X
- Categories
- Fiction
About this book
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 revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.
With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.
Description via Open Library.
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As of Nov 15, 2026, lowest item prices: new print $10.00 at eBay; audio $14.95 at Google Play Books. Shipping and tax extra.
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Print new (14)
| Store | Condition | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| BooksWagonmarketplace seller · likely not the book or not newvia Google Shopping · checked | new | $4.64 | Not yet |
| eBaymarketplace sellervia Google Shopping · checked | new | $10.00 | Buy → |
| AbeBooksmarketplace sellervia Google Shopping · checked | new | $11.42 | Buy → |
| Blackwell'smarketplace sellervia Google Shopping · checked | new | $13.30 | Not yet |
| Targetvia Google Shopping · checked | new | $14.64 | Buy → |
| Ria Christie Collectionsmarketplace sellervia Google Shopping · checked | new | $15.34 | Not yet |
| Bookshop.orgvia Google Shopping · checked | new | $17.00 | Buy → |
| Kindred Storiesmarketplace sellervia Google Shopping · checked | new | $18.00 | Buy → |
Audio (1)
| Store | Condition | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Play Booksvia Google Shopping · checked | new | $14.95 | Not yet |
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- What's the cheapest way to buy On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous?
- As of Nov 15, 2026, lowest item prices: new print $10.00 at eBay; audio $14.95 at Google Play Books. Shipping and tax extra.
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