Ocean Vuong: Romantic Hero

It takes years for actors to learn how to cry on command, yet for poet and author Ocean Vuong, crying comes as easily as breathing. Vuong cried on NPR, he cried with The New York Times, and when he is not actively crying, he is often near tears — on Oprah, on Colbert, in several other unnoted venues. I’ve seen these tears myself, in person, in real life, at a book festival I stumbled into in Washington, DC in 2019. I don’t remember why Ocean Vuong was crying. All I remember is his quiet, whispery voice, and something about how the typical novel structure—with rising action leading to a climax—is both patriarchal and violent. And then, out of nowhere, came the tears. And let me tell you, the room was captivated: many audience members were crying themselves. I won’t pretend I was moved, but I was extremely baffled, which is almost the same. This was my first exposure to the phenomenon of Ocean Vuong.