Review of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

This book is heavy on the PTSD, bullying, and other trauma triggers. 

I try to shy away from reading peoples’ accounts of living in an unfair world. It’s not all about blaming the world for our individual struggles. However, there is legitimate pain that goes along with it. And you can feel more of it than you might with most other authors by virtue of Vuong’s magnificent use of language. A dead in the wool poet, who makes even the pity party of terrible real experiences heart-breaking. Compare this to A Little Life by Yanigahara, and you will see a difference in length and depth, and hence this is a more condensed, searing account of realistic people enduring, bravely. But let’s be honest. Why were you living in New York City and complaining about your finances?