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Ocean Vuong\u2019s<\/a> bestselling debut novel, \u201cOn Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous,\u201d<\/a> took the literary world by storm. Upon its release, the book was widely praised<\/a> for its heartbreaking character depictions which were matched equally by the beauty of the author\u2019s prose. When writing this epistolary novel, Vuong leaned into his roots<\/a> as a poet, with flowery, lyrical language at its core. In addition to the author\u2019s many accolades, including the 2014 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship<\/a> and the American Book Award<\/a>, his newest novel, \u201cThe Emperor of Gladness,\u201d has been recognized by Oprah\u2019s Book Club<\/a> and quickly rose on bestseller lists<\/a>. As \u201cOn Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous\u201d focused on beautiful prose, it lacked a coherent plotline, which drew me to pick up \u201cThe Emperor of Gladness,\u201d which seemed to have a far clearer plot progression and apparently tangible characters. The individuality of these novels also encouraged my attendance at his national tour which enriched my reading experience by providing insight not only into the production of his novels, but also what it means to write.<\/p>\n The novel opens with our narrator, Hai, standing on a bridge, ready to end his life. Breaking through the rain and the noise of his thoughts, an elderly widow, Grazina, calls to him and saves his life. Hai becomes Grazina\u2019s caretaker as she falls deeper into her dementia, and in spite of it all, they become unlikely companions, leaning on one another as they live through their respective hardships. Taking place during the rise of the opioid epidemic<\/a> in 2009, this story is one of resilience and the beauty in the most mundane aspects of life. Vuong reminds readers that the stories of everyday individuals are just as beautiful as the fantastical and epic stories more widely represented<\/a> in literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n While \u201cOn Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous\u201d focuses on the complications of generational experiences and the meaning of blood, \u201cThe Emperor of Gladness\u201d takes an even deeper look at the meaning of chosen family. The thickness of blood can be suffocating, and the turn to the purity of friendship can be the breath of fresh air we so desperately need. Both of these perspectives are important in their own ways, though in \u201cOn Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous,\u201d I found that the characters felt more like ideas than people. There is a certain beauty in describing a Queer relationship and the complexities between a mother and son, the way Vuong wrote into his first novel. Hai, living in East Gladness, however, lives the unaesthetic<\/em> life of a fast food worker, including anecdotes like butchering pigs or racist customers, which exemplify that these people may not fall into the role of an \u201cideal\u201d protagonist. While Vuong\u2019s debut was beautifully written and heart-wrenching, the silent beauty of this second novel allows for a rich cast of characters that truly feel like real people rather than ideas of them. The readers are intruders, peering into these real lives. Though we come to read a story, we turn the last page feeling as though we have worked, laughed and cried with these characters as their friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n