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Ocean Vuong — acclaimed author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and Night Sky with Exit Wounds — returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink. Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness (Penguin) shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing — formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness — are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance. Vuong will be joined in conversation by poet, musician, and interdisciplinary artist Dao Strom, author of Instrument.Please note: Tickets for this event are $30 (before service charges) and include admission, as well as one paperback copy of Vuong’s The Emperor of Gladness. Books distributed at event.
A limited number of non-book-inclusive tickets are available at $10 each, intended to be accessible for students and guests in need of pricing flexibility. These low-cost tickets are made available on the honor system, so please consider your need and the needs of others before purchasing.
🎟️📕Purchase your book-inclusive ticket: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/52821094/ocean-vuong-in-conversation-with-dao-strom-portland-revolution-hall
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Event Venue
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St, # 110,Portland, Oregon, United States
Tickets
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