Elizabeth (Plant Based Bride)'s Reviews > On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a semi-autobiographical novel told in the form of a letter, a lyrically written and often poetic bridge between a young man and his mother, who will never be able to read the words her son so desperately needs her to understand.

Vuong's work touches upon many themes from family history and trauma to the interactions between race, class, and privilege, to masculinity and sexuality, to war, addiction, and more. This is a deeply layered work exploring the reality of being a first-generation immigrant to America born from war in Vietnam.

A love story couched in trauma.

A coming of age story and a coming out.

While at times the purple prose can feel overdone, for the most part, I absolutely adored Vuong's writing style. His use of imagery and metaphor add depth to an already rich tapestry of a narrative, and his wordsmithery was a pleasure to experience.

I was drawn into Little Dog's story immediately, held in a death grip until the final page.

“You once told me that the human eye is god's loneliest creation. How so much of the world passes through the pupil and still it holds nothing. The eye, alone in its socket, doesn't even know there's another one, just like it, an inch away, just as hungry, as empty.”

I was deeply moved by this novel and am looking forward to reading Vuong's poetry.



Content/trigger warnings: child abuse, homophobia, PTSD, generational trauma, war, mental illness, racism, bullying, parentification, animal cruelty and death, abortion, drug abuse, overdose, cancer, domestic abuse


You can find me on...

Youtube | Instagram | Twitter| TikTok

This was our book club pick for May. You can join our book club over on Patreon...
PBB Book Club