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Book review: Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor Of Gladness finds beauty in a forgotten American town
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The Emperor Of Gladness is poet and writer Ocean Vuong's sophomore novel.
PHOTOS: GIONCARLO VALENTINE, PENGUIN PRESS
By Ocean Vuong
Fiction/Penguin Press/Paperback/402 pages/$30.96
American writer Ocean Vuong has an astonishing knack for the beautiful turn of phrase. The first few pages of The Emperor Of Gladness teem with such lines – it might be the most beautiful opening to a novel this reviewer has read in 2025.
