Ocean Vuong emigrated to Hartford from Vietnam when he was two years old. His family brought with them the trauma of an American-led war that ravaged their people and their culture. How do they retain their culture and assimilate into one that doesn't want them?

His family struggled in a Hartford very different from the city that many of us experience. It's a place that still exists in the shadows.

Ocean’s family is a snapshot into a bigger and more pervasive picture of the problems in America that many choose to hide -- the toll of low-wage work, poverty, drugs, violence, and the erasure of histories and ways of living life that don't fit neatly into the American myth.

Ocean's first novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, is an American story, albeit one about the failure of America. This is an excerpt.

GUEST:
Ocean Vuong - A poet and the author of the novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

Ocean Vuong emigrated to Hartford from Vietnam when he was two years old. His family brought with them the trauma of an American-led war that ravaged their people and their culture. How do they retain their culture and assimilate into one that doesn't want them?
His family struggled in a Hartford very different from the city that many of us experience. It's a place that still exists in the shadows.
Ocean&rsquo;s family is a snapshot into a bigger and more pervasive picture of the problems in America that many choose to hide -- the toll of low-wage work, poverty, drugs, violence, and the erasure of histories and ways of living life that don't fit neatly into the American myth.
Ocean's first novel,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H72LJ5V/">On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous</a>,&nbsp;is an American story, albeit one about the failure of America.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/a-letter-to-my-mother-that-she-will-never-read">This is an excerpt.</a>
GUEST:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.oceanvuong.com/">Ocean Vuong</a>&nbsp;- A poet and the author of the novel&nbsp;On Earth We&rsquo;re Briefly Gorgeous</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ColinMcShow/">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wnprcolin">Twitter.</a>
Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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