Ocean Vuong, author portrait
© Gioncarlo Valentine

Ocean Vuong

Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and Time Is a Mother, as well as the New York Times bestselling novels On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and The Emperor of Gladness. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the American Book Award, he was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and currently splits his time between western Massachusetts and New York City.
The Emperor of Gladness
Time Is a Mother
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Inside the Book: Ocean Vuong (ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS)

Books

The Emperor of Gladness
Time Is a Mother
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Media

Inside the Book: Ocean Vuong (ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS)

What Students Will Be Reading: Campus Common Reading Roundup, 2026–27

With the fall semester in full swing, colleges and universities across the country have announced their Common Reading books for the 2026–27 academic year. We’ve compiled a list of over 250 programs and their title selections, detailed below. We will continue to update this listing to provide the most comprehensive record of programs available anywhere

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2027 Catalog for First-Year & Common Reading

We are delighted to present our new First-Year & Common Reading Catalog for 2027! From award-winning fiction, poetry, memoir, and biography to new books about the environment, current events, history, public health, science, social justice, student success, and technology, the titles presented in our common reading catalog will have students not only eagerly flipping through

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Videos from the 2026 First-Year Experience® Conference are now available

We’re pleased to share videos from the 2026 First-Year Experience® Conference. Whether you weren’t able to join us at the conference or would simply like to hear the talks again, please take a moment to view the clips below.   Penguin Random House Author Breakfast Monday, February 17th, 7:15 – 8:45 am PST   This

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor of Gladness

Oprah’s Book Club Pick  Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.   “Come in. But take off your shoes. My husband put down these floors.” The woman disappeared into the house. The boy hesitated, looking down the empty street. The

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