RaveThe RumpusTo say On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is only a novel would diminish its essence and ambition. For it is also an epistle as well as epic poem, romance, elegy, family history, theory, and critical essay ... this work knows full well that nothing can exist without history or a past, knows full well that the way something is assembled is not \'alien from the impulse that created it.\' Steeped in news and cultural references, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous makes time travel possible ... Emphasizing the flexibility of language and meaning, Vuong shows just how it can be used to walk towards and within imagination ... This work is a collective song—of Little Dog, of Rose, of Trevor, of Lan, of Little Dog’s father, of Vietnam, war, addiction, joy, survival, America. It is the song of what is left, alive, and beautiful ... Vuong writes with recognition that narratives of poverty, toxic masculinity, and trauma pervade and persevere ... The risks Vuong takes in this work are only risks because they insist on hope, and joy, and show a path towards healing through language and imagination. This book teaches us how and where we might begin.
