The Emperor of Gladness

byOcean Vuong, James Aaron Oh (Read by)

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Brought to you by Penguin.


THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER


College dropout Hai doesn’t know how to face the future until a chance meeting with elderly widow Grazina changes his life.

One late summer evening in the town of East Gladness, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow.

From this moment, his second chance begins. Over the course of the year, Hai’s story takes new and unexpected turns, as his life-altering bond with Grazina transforms his relationship to the community, his family and, most powerfully of all, to himself.


‘Heartbreaking’ Guardian


‘Dramatic and vivid’ Colm Tóibín


‘Beautiful’ Oprah Winfrey


‘His most vivid, ambitious work yet’ Dazed


(C) Ocean Vuong 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

A fine-grained social panorama driven by the developing camaraderie of an ensemble cast bonded in precariousness and pain

Observer

About 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 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ and the American Book Award, he was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and currently splits his time between western Massachusetts and New York City.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781529945881
  • Length: 850 minutes
  • Price: £14.00
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