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THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER AND TIKTOK SENSATION

‘A marvel’ Marlon James

Brilliant, heart-breaking and highly original, discover Ocean Vuong’s shattering coming of age novel.

This 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. It tells of Vietnam, of the lasting impact of war, and of his family’s struggle to forge a new future.

And it serves as a doorway into parts of Little Dog’s life his mother has never known – episodes of bewilderment, fear and passion – all the while moving closer to an unforgettable revelation.

‘Reminded me that every word can be an incantation, and that beauty does hard and important work’ Rebecca Solnit

Publisher Review

Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous confirms him as a master of inventive language that has its roots in the spoken word but reaches shimmering heights of lyricism, too. — Joseph O’Connor * Sunday Independent *Books of the Year* * Vuong is surely a literary descendant of the author of Leaves of Grass. Emerging from the most marginalized circumstances, he has produced a lyrical work of self-discovery that’s shockingly intimate and insistently universal… Not so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning. — Ron Charles * Washington Post * This is some of the most moving writing I’ve read… The tenderness of the prose feels like a triumph against a world hellbent on embittering the tenderhearted… the truths arrived at in this book are valuable precisely because they are steeped in feeling. * New York Times * A stunning, beautiful book… His writing is phenomenal… Simply brilliant. * BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review * Everything is beautiful in this debut… Vuong has originality running through his veins, and a good deal of humour and impish charm… This impressive debut hints at even greater things to come. * The Times *