States of Grace

OCEAN VUONG’S 2016 DEBUT POETRY COLLECTION, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, received a rave review from Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times Book Review, then the most important tastemaker in contemporary American literature. Rare enough for any book of poetry to receive critical attention from the NYTBR, but a debut collection? It was a sign of things to come—awards, accolades, and fellowships soon followed. Vuong’s 2019 novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous brought a thunderclap of acclaim and a massive commercial success, beaming Vuong to the forefront of his literary generation, so much so that his name is shorthand for certain attitudes and styles.