The Emperor of Gladness

(Hardback)

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Description

A once-in-a-generation novel of love, survival and how friendship can save your life In a forgotten Massachusetts town, a young man called Hai is standing on the edge of the river preparing to jump. On the run from his mistakes and struggling with an opioid addiction, Hai is ready to give up. He is interrupted by the sound of an old woman shouting at him. Grazina is a tenacious, rebellious 82-year-old widow with dementia and she has just saved his life. Suddenly Hai finds himself caring for Grazina in her ramshackle house filled with a lifetime of memories. It becomes a home where the two of them learn how to look after each other despite the grief they both carry. To support Grazina, Hai takes a job with his cousin Sony in the local diner. The food is comforting and the restaurant offers a refuge to whoever needs it. There Hai meets a staff of loveable misfits caught on the wrong side of the American dream. Together they form an unconventional but unshakeable family. But as Grazina's dementia worsens and the diner comes under threat, Hai must decide on the future - and that means facing up to his past and the secret he has been running away from. Combining grit and grace, humour and love, The Emperor of Gladness is a moving story of friendship and how much we're willing to risk for one of life's most treasured mercies- a second chance.

Reviews

'A marvel' -- Marlon James
'Luminous, shattering, urgent, necessary' -- Celeste Ng, praise for On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
'A prodigious talent' * Financial Times *
'Utterly captivating writing' -- Anthony Cummins * Daily Mail *
'He transforms the emotional, the visceral, the individual into the political in an unforgettable indeed, gorgeous novel' -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, praise for On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Author Bio

Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds and the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the 2019 MacArthur "Genius" Grant, he is also the winner of the Whiting Award and the T.S. Eliot Prize. His writings have been featured in Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, Nation, New Republic, New Yorker, and the New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.