The Emperor of Gladness

What a good read. If I had not seen the author and Oprah on tv probably would have never read. Highly recommend.

I adore Ocean Vuong. His poems are amazing, and his first novel was a good start. "The Emperor of Gladness" is a far better and more mature novel than "On Earth...". Ocean has an astonishing command of the English language and can combine humor, sadness, social commentary, and every other emotion in marvelous ways. If you question whether a young man and an older woman can have an emotional connection strong enough to help them both survive, here is your answer. I highly recommend this book. If you don't know Ocean's work, listen to his interview on the NY Times podcast called "The Interview" and read his NY Times essay from May 2025 to get a feel for the family life that is so perfectly represented in his characters.

This is a multi-level book which takes the author back to his exit from Vietnam up to his demise in the garbage ben.The many levels of emotions and friendships showed he was a loving and caring person.Most of his last days at the restaurant showed how he lied to keep his life fulfilled and memories protected.I think I need to read this again.

This book is simply amazing! The vocabulary is beyond the normal meanings. And the descriptions are original and detailed so as to put you there with every sense. The character development is full blown with revelations pulling the story altogether in a fanciful loving way. The heavy themes, i.e. depression, drug abuse, dementia, homosexuality, death, imprisonment, etc. are handled most honestly & effectively.I was most taken by the original voice & style of this writer and can not wait to read more of his work!

Truely written by a poet!!! The imagery of every moment is moving and creating imagery. in. your mind.Thank You Ocean Vuong.

I am currently reading this book and I like it a lot!

Vuong is very precise in the words he uses to tell his stories. This is another good read from him. It has an oddball cast of characters but is often quite touching.

I should have known what would happen when a poet writes a novel: readers would be gifted with an extraordinary literary achievement. Author Vuong has done just that. In a novel that is as funny as it is poignant, he has mined the depths of the human experience from inside the cramped confines of a fast-food restaurant in suburban Connecticut. What results is a staggering epic filled with unforgettable characters trying to make sense of a world that has left them behind.Hai is a nineteen-year-old Vietnamese boy about to end his life by plunging from a railroad bridge, when he is accosted by octogenarian Grazina, yelling at him from the window of her dilapidated house. She persuades him to move in with her and “start again,” providing him with what might be graciously called “room and board” while he makes sure she takes all of her medications on time. He soon learns that her increasing dementia straddles life between World War II and her precarious present, and before long he becomes her “Sergeant Pepper,” incorporated into her delusions, guiding her through war-torn Europe.Then there is Sony, Hai’s younger cousin, an autistic savant with encyclopedic knowledge of the American Civil War. BJ, the woman who manages the HomeMarket (“This is where America is fed”) has aspirations of breaking out of fast-food and becoming a professional wrestler. Russia, “the white boy with the nose ring,” mans the drive-thru, while redheaded Maureen takes orders, and the always sweating Wayne keeps the chickens roasting. As the story progresses, we find that “the usual suspects” are anything but usual, each quirky and flawed in their own way, living lives where putting one foot in front of the other is an act of courage.The writing is as beautiful as the story is profound. Its humor and its pathos become an indictment of a society that discards human beings as easily as disposable Styrofoam cups. Trust me, once you have read this soaring novel you will never hear the standard words of a fast-food server in the same way again:“How can I help you?”

A truly amazing story by a young insightful writer…by far the best book both fiction and nonfiction I have read so far in 2025. The reading was augmented by listening to several interviews with the author…I plan to pursue his other books which per the Buddhist tradition of Ocean will end at 8.

I love this book because it gave the deep and powerful and meaningful lives of people that most of us don’t even see. And they’re wonderful and they’re complex and they’re full of pain and wonder. Incredible book.

I’m a different person for having read this book. It was exactly what I needed to read during these untethered days of living in this reality TV world of nonsense. The characters are so well developed and unique and the interactions so painfully real but also so much humor is shared between them, I wanted to be on their team. Just read the book and come away a better human.

Unusual story about the life of a young man, second generation Vietnamese, lost and confused who teams up with a woman slipping into the oblivion of Alzheimer’s. So well written it brings tears to your eyes. The words flow like a beautiful and deep river. Mixed in with a group of characters in a hodgepodge of a restaurant, it’s crazy, funny, weird and completely off the rails in a fantastic way.

When Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was published, the book club group I was facilitating at the time wondered if the author would be able to make the transition from poet to full-fledged novelist---because the first novel flew primarily on the wings of poetry. His second novel---The Emperor of Gladness--- does seem to lack the poetry of his first book. Nevertheless, it is poignant and powerful---and it is at its very best when the author explores the profound and touching relationship between the central protagonist Hai and the demented old woman Grazina. Grazina is, in fact, the glue that holds this book together. And yet, the novel's other characters who live in the fast-food world of Home Market, are just as significant in their own way and connect powerfully to the mood, tone and themes of the author's book. The novel does seem pretty dismal, and I was reminded again and again of its epigraph from Act 4, scene 3 of Hamlet: the true emperor of the world is the worm. "We fat ourselves for maggots." So, the world is a wasteland of sorts in which, in the end, the American Dream ends most logically in a nursing home or in a dumpster where we sit contemplating stars in the night sky that we can neither reach nor comprehend. Where is the beauty in our lives? "What good is beauty if nobody wins?" The lies we tell ourselves and one another. The delusions we use to cope with trauma, with the brutality of war and the senseless slaughter of humans and animals. The numbing realities of our existences. It is all pretty grim. But the writing is breathtaking, and many of the scenes in this novel are unforgettable and brilliant, including a pill-popping Hai (as "Sgt. Pepper") sitting in a bathtub with the demented Grazina as they take a midnight ride in a "jeep" that sweeps them across war-torn Europe on their way to the battlefields of Gettysburg. And the final section of the novel (Spring) is so powerfully imagined and rendered that the last pages of the book might leave you in tears. What are we? Who are we supposed to be? Do we ever rise above the level of our own mediocrity? What happens now? The Emperor of Gladness provides much food for thought, and I can only continue to admire its sensitive and intuitive author who is so very young and yet writes with such compassion and wisdom.

Great reading by an author who is as much a poet as a fiction writer. Adjectives that describe a scene are difficult to imagine how he comes to them. Begins with Hai on a bridge…and his intentions are not good. I’ll leave the remainder for you to discover.

Ocean Vuong’s novel “Emperor of Gladness” offers a poignant snapshot of a gay (this is the spoiler alert)Vietnamese immigrant grappling with addiction and the complexities of identity. The opening passages are beautifully poetic, setting a lyrical tone that I initially hoped would carry through the entire book. However, as the story unfolds, the prose becomes more straightforward, especially in the dialogue, which at times felt somewhat simplistic—perhaps reflecting the challenges of language barriers between the protagonist and his mother.Despite its focus on the seemingly ordinary experiences of a young adult, the novel held my attention, driven largely by my curiosity about the character’s journey. There’s little in the way of traditional action, yet Vuong’s writing manages to keep the reader engaged through its emotional depth and introspective moments.I found it interesting that the main character’s Vietnamese name translates to “Ocean,” mirroring the author’s own, which made me wonder if the novel is partly autobiographical. Throughout the book, themes of imprisonment—both mental and societal—resonate strongly, especially in today’s context where mental health is so vital.Ultimately, “Emperor of Gladness” made me reflect on my own life and the support systems I’m fortunate to have, as well as the profound struggle of living with addiction. It’s a novel that lingers in your thoughts, prompting deeper contemplation about resilience, belonging, and the human condition.

This is an exquisite and profound story. Ocean Vuong’s descriptions and words are so beautiful and engaging. He tells the tale of a group of coworkers and a grandmother who have almost nothing, and yet they care for, accept and love each other so well. If more of us could live this way, the people in our country would be so much better off. I highly recommend this book.

Beautifully written; a heartfelt, lovely story. So why only a 3? It’s in the details. As a social worker who has devoted much of my career to working with elders it is hard to forgive such significant details, even though the book is fiction. A live-in nurse provided by Medicare? I wish. A nursing visit 3x week is the best you will get. Dementia? The description was more like PTSD. Medications obtained how? You need a doctor to prescribe them. Paroxetine for hallucinations? Perhaps the phantom doctor should use an antipsychotic. Anyway…enough from me. Forget the incorrect details and enjoy the story. Obviously I just couldn’t.

Beautifully descriptive, introspective, poetic, powerful depiction of life through the eyes of a broken but good soul spiraling down into nowhere. He tries to save himself through The bond he forms with a woman who saved him from taking his own life. It is endearing and unimaginable. She is on the brink of Alzheimer’s. The author gives the reader a genuine look into her mind and Hai’s understanding of it and how he helps her but is unable to help himself. I was totally immersed in this narrative from beginning to end. It depicts the lives of immigrants and their struggle in a drepressed small town in America and the products of those lives.

Not as glorious, writing-wise, as On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous—but what is?

Why does Amazon list it as LGBTQ fiction? One main character briefly acknowledges on p. 317 that he's "liggabit" (his elderly friend's pronunciation of LGBT). That's it!Emperor has wonderful dialog, memorable characters, and lovely descriptions of food, but the book is too long. Vuong is at heart a poet, I believe. We don't need 400 pages to see this town and its people. A series of short stories (or prose poems) could have done the job in half the space.