--- product_id: 184210644 title: "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel" price: "145.33 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/184210644-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-a-novel store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel **Price:** 145.33 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** 145.33 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/184210644-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A New York Times bestseller • Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction • Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century “A lyrical work of self-discovery that’s shockingly intimate and insistently universa l…N ot so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, the debut novel from the author of The Emperor of Gladness, is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard. With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years. Named a Best Book of the Year by: GQ, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, TIME , Esquire, The Washington Post , Apple, Good Housekeeping, The New Yorker , The New York Public Library, Elle.com, The Guardian , The A.V. Club, NPR, Lithub, Entertainment Weekly , Vogue.com, The San Francisco Chronicle, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, and more! Review: De gustibus non est disputandum - Reading the reviews of this book here, I found a fascinating snapshot of who we are: richly feeling and yet constrained, open and still closed in mind and heart, welcoming and resolutely petty, loving but spiteful. The book itself was, for me, incandescent, soaring to great heights, and crushing, dragging me as reader to terrible depths. In the balance, the book is a paean to beauty in all its forms--and beauty takes shapes that pierce the spirit with both pain and joy. Regarding literary sensibility, for me there are strains of Proust in the seemingly involuntary function of memory. Another reviewer related this to Whitman and I can absolutely understand why. The references to Barthes, Duchamp, etcetera are part of my regular lexicon of references (given my own work) so Vuong's literary allusions felt natural to me, though I could imagine others growing discontent with the exposure to the unfamiliar--when they don't wish to be sidetracked by new ideas. For me that was always a joy in reading a well-read writer (e.g., Eco or Borges). Vuong loves language with a passion; that is obvious. His ardor sings. The tune is a sometimes a dithyramb, often an elegy, occasionally a hymn, and at times a heartbreaking lament. If I were to offer a criticism of faults, there were a few moments of uneveness of quality in parts II and III. But these seemed exceedingly minor to me in the context of the total work. The book is not for everyone. I write that in manner similar to saying that Joyce isn't for everyone. Readers who claim the book is bad because they couldn't understand it, because Vuong doesn't follow a straight line or leave a clear thread in the labyrinth for them to follow are claiming a rather pedestrian criterion for a universal judgment. By that measure, "Finnegans Wake" is a crime against humanity! Here's a thought: "I don't like this sort of writing" is a very different statement from "this is bad writing." The former is wholly understandable and might just be a matter of individual taste. The latter is a declaration of critical finality, the rightful domain of consensus and posterity. And to those who recoiled in homophobic disgust, I beg you to try opening yourself up to the world as others live it. I'm a straight white male, so I share neither the same sexual desires nor experiences of America (or world) as the author, but allowing myself to empathize with the characters Vuong writes only makes the scope of human understanding that much broader for me. To feel like some agenda is being pushed upon one here is less a reflection on author, publisher, or reviewers than upon one's own defense mechanisms and inability to momentarily leave a world that only affirms only a dominant narrative that reflects one's own experiences. The abuse of the narrator and other figures, the violence against animals: these things are horrific and abject, yes. But they are also a part of life. As part of life they are subjects of poetic reflection; life is not all happy songs and roses, why should art be? I remember someone complaining that Goya's "Disasters" were so horrific as to render his art bad, or not art at all. Most of us would find that idea risible, but I see the sentiment repeated here. Turning our backs on brutality is to give it access to us unchecked and unexamined. The violence in "On Earth," never felt gratuitous to me nor aestheticized for the sake of glorifying violence or excusing it. Rather, it seemed to me that Vuong explored the ambivalences of our brutality, our ability to be loving, caring monsters, beautiful and horribly flawed. Anyhow, I loved the book and recommend it if you are looking for a read that with at once enthrall and challenge you. I read it in one sitting, so I can say that Vuong captured something profound and compelling for me, personally. I honestly find it hard to believe how young he is; there is a wealth of experience and reflection here that is seemingly beyond his years. I look forward to his future endeavors. Review: A beautifully raw story about a person’s life,& the people before them - This was a great and quick read. In total it took me 5 hours to complete this book. This story is a story of an immigrant living and retelling the stories of the immigrants before him such as his mom and grandma. Beautifully written. Loved the portrayal of color. In the beginning of the book, the narrator describes colors to inanimate objects/feelings. As he grows older, other people begin to see him as his own skin color, hence they began to project their understanding of color on to him. Suddenly, color no longer describes an object/feeling but it becomes a weapon that divides people. Color becomes a tool that allows him to be put into a box before ever having the opportunity to give others a chance to know him. Color becomes his identity, as well as the identity of everyone around him. It’s also interesting how trauma affects not only those who lived through traumatic experiences, but also their children who will end up growing up with that trauma. The book has many themes including: • Race • Growing up as an American • Growing up with different cultural identities • Self Identity/Self Discovery • Generational Trauma • Inherited Trauma •Post war affects • Growing up bi racial • Complex parental relationships • Immigrants •Immigrants (due to war) •LGBT Things I disliked: Children having sex: Although the narrator is telling his story, and he is going back in time. I felt highly uncomfortable with the explicit scenes of minors having sex. There was no need to describe certain parts of the body as he did. Simply because of the fact that they were minors when this physical relationship happened. He could have easily mentioned how he felt instead of drawing explicit pictures for his audience. Neutral comment: Parts the story seemed messy, however I personally liked it and I understood it because that’s how my brain works. Making footnotes of footnotes. At the same time, it made sense for the story to be “messy” as he’s writing a letter to his mother. It’s not going to be neat. When you write a letter to your loved ones, many times you’re reminiscing about the old times, and so one memory will turn into another into another into another, and so it gives off the authentic vibes of a letter to someone close to you. You want them to remember the scene that you were at. As many have mentioned, this book isn’t for everyone. Overall, I rate this book 8.0279/10 It’s a great book, easy to read, and it brought me out of my reading hiatus! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #3,742 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books) #82 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #308 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 23,127 Reviews | ## Images ![On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/914FJ7fcYkL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ De gustibus non est disputandum *by D***G on January 6, 2020* Reading the reviews of this book here, I found a fascinating snapshot of who we are: richly feeling and yet constrained, open and still closed in mind and heart, welcoming and resolutely petty, loving but spiteful. The book itself was, for me, incandescent, soaring to great heights, and crushing, dragging me as reader to terrible depths. In the balance, the book is a paean to beauty in all its forms--and beauty takes shapes that pierce the spirit with both pain and joy. Regarding literary sensibility, for me there are strains of Proust in the seemingly involuntary function of memory. Another reviewer related this to Whitman and I can absolutely understand why. The references to Barthes, Duchamp, etcetera are part of my regular lexicon of references (given my own work) so Vuong's literary allusions felt natural to me, though I could imagine others growing discontent with the exposure to the unfamiliar--when they don't wish to be sidetracked by new ideas. For me that was always a joy in reading a well-read writer (e.g., Eco or Borges). Vuong loves language with a passion; that is obvious. His ardor sings. The tune is a sometimes a dithyramb, often an elegy, occasionally a hymn, and at times a heartbreaking lament. If I were to offer a criticism of faults, there were a few moments of uneveness of quality in parts II and III. But these seemed exceedingly minor to me in the context of the total work. The book is not for everyone. I write that in manner similar to saying that Joyce isn't for everyone. Readers who claim the book is bad because they couldn't understand it, because Vuong doesn't follow a straight line or leave a clear thread in the labyrinth for them to follow are claiming a rather pedestrian criterion for a universal judgment. By that measure, "Finnegans Wake" is a crime against humanity! Here's a thought: "I don't like this sort of writing" is a very different statement from "this is bad writing." The former is wholly understandable and might just be a matter of individual taste. The latter is a declaration of critical finality, the rightful domain of consensus and posterity. And to those who recoiled in homophobic disgust, I beg you to try opening yourself up to the world as others live it. I'm a straight white male, so I share neither the same sexual desires nor experiences of America (or world) as the author, but allowing myself to empathize with the characters Vuong writes only makes the scope of human understanding that much broader for me. To feel like some agenda is being pushed upon one here is less a reflection on author, publisher, or reviewers than upon one's own defense mechanisms and inability to momentarily leave a world that only affirms only a dominant narrative that reflects one's own experiences. The abuse of the narrator and other figures, the violence against animals: these things are horrific and abject, yes. But they are also a part of life. As part of life they are subjects of poetic reflection; life is not all happy songs and roses, why should art be? I remember someone complaining that Goya's "Disasters" were so horrific as to render his art bad, or not art at all. Most of us would find that idea risible, but I see the sentiment repeated here. Turning our backs on brutality is to give it access to us unchecked and unexamined. The violence in "On Earth," never felt gratuitous to me nor aestheticized for the sake of glorifying violence or excusing it. Rather, it seemed to me that Vuong explored the ambivalences of our brutality, our ability to be loving, caring monsters, beautiful and horribly flawed. Anyhow, I loved the book and recommend it if you are looking for a read that with at once enthrall and challenge you. I read it in one sitting, so I can say that Vuong captured something profound and compelling for me, personally. I honestly find it hard to believe how young he is; there is a wealth of experience and reflection here that is seemingly beyond his years. I look forward to his future endeavors. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A beautifully raw story about a person’s life,& the people before them *by R***B on August 27, 2023* This was a great and quick read. In total it took me 5 hours to complete this book. This story is a story of an immigrant living and retelling the stories of the immigrants before him such as his mom and grandma. Beautifully written. Loved the portrayal of color. In the beginning of the book, the narrator describes colors to inanimate objects/feelings. As he grows older, other people begin to see him as his own skin color, hence they began to project their understanding of color on to him. Suddenly, color no longer describes an object/feeling but it becomes a weapon that divides people. Color becomes a tool that allows him to be put into a box before ever having the opportunity to give others a chance to know him. Color becomes his identity, as well as the identity of everyone around him. It’s also interesting how trauma affects not only those who lived through traumatic experiences, but also their children who will end up growing up with that trauma. The book has many themes including: • Race • Growing up as an American • Growing up with different cultural identities • Self Identity/Self Discovery • Generational Trauma • Inherited Trauma •Post war affects • Growing up bi racial • Complex parental relationships • Immigrants •Immigrants (due to war) •LGBT Things I disliked: Children having sex: Although the narrator is telling his story, and he is going back in time. I felt highly uncomfortable with the explicit scenes of minors having sex. There was no need to describe certain parts of the body as he did. Simply because of the fact that they were minors when this physical relationship happened. He could have easily mentioned how he felt instead of drawing explicit pictures for his audience. Neutral comment: Parts the story seemed messy, however I personally liked it and I understood it because that’s how my brain works. Making footnotes of footnotes. At the same time, it made sense for the story to be “messy” as he’s writing a letter to his mother. It’s not going to be neat. When you write a letter to your loved ones, many times you’re reminiscing about the old times, and so one memory will turn into another into another into another, and so it gives off the authentic vibes of a letter to someone close to you. You want them to remember the scene that you were at. As many have mentioned, this book isn’t for everyone. Overall, I rate this book 8.0279/10 It’s a great book, easy to read, and it brought me out of my reading hiatus! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lyrical, heartbreaking, one of the best of 2019 *by R***N on June 19, 2019* This beautiful, lyrical novel is structured as a letter from a son to his mother. Little Dog is the son of a Vietnamese mother who traveled with her mother and sister from Vietnam after the war, settling in Connecticut. The son describes his life to his mother as he grows up, farming in a tobacco field, moving to go to college. This novel has received a lot of praise and I can confirm that it is worth every word. The sentences of this book are simply beautiful, strung together in a song that spans 240 pages. We learn of the life of Little Dog. Immigration and assimilation play huge roles in this story. These are immigrants who fade into the background of American life but play crucial roles in the web of society. The effects of the war in Vietnam echo through generations, from service men who father children then leave, to others who caused so much damage and pain. Another theme is sexuality. The narrator explores a relationship with another boy in this book. Their love is tenuous, complicated, and beautiful. There are truths spoken in this book that I’ve never read in another piece of fiction. Addiction plays a crucial role in the life of the narrator and those around him. We see a community ravaged by pills. I thought this book was incredibly moving and evocative. The whole time I read this book I thought of James Baldwin and how Vuong’s words were as poetic and descriptive as Baldwin’s. Reverberations of his work was confirmed when the author thanked Baldwin first in the acknowledgements. This book might not be for everyone. Some chapters are written as pure poetry. The novel is not linear nor plot driven, focusing on themes and emotion rather than a timeline of events, more like an intricate tapestry or abstract painting. Themes and elements and descriptions are woven together so the emotions are amplified and it really works well. I loved this book and hope many others have a chance to fall in love with it as well. ★★★★★ • Hardcover • Fiction - Literary • Purchased online. ◾︎ ## Frequently Bought Together - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel - The Emperor of Gladness: Oprah's Book Club: A Novel - Time Is a Mother --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/184210644-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/184210644-on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-10*