The Emperor of Gladness

A Novel

De: Ocean Vuong

Narrado por: James Aaron Oh

The instant New York Times bestseller • Oprah’s Book Club Pick • Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive

“Stunning . . . A heartfelt and powerful examination of those living on the fringes of society, and the unique challenges they face to survive and thrive.”—Oprah Winfrey

“Magnificent . . . In writing this book, Vuong may have joined the ranks of an elite few great novelists.”—Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times

The hardest thing in the world is to live only once…

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.

Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Ocean Vuong’s writing—formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness—are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.

©2025 Ocean Vuong (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Vuong’s protagonist, Hai, is a drug-addicted college dropout living in the fictional town of East Gladness, Connecticut. After he forms an unlikely bond with an elderly widow from Lithuania, whose house he moves into, he begins working at a fast-food restaurant, HomeMarket, where all of the employees are, like him, searching for some kind of home. The novel brims with feeling for these figures, who, though scorned by society, belong to it nonetheless.”—The New Yorker

“On the surface, The Emperor of Gladness is about people on the margins and how they survive hardship, but it’s also a story of how contradictions often exist in conjunction. War and loss run through the pages of The Emperor of Gladness, but so do love and joy. Estrangement ripples through the novel too, yet The Emperor of Gladness celebrates profound connections . . . Soulful and at times heart-wrenching.”—The Seattle Times

“In [The Emperor of Gladness] Ocean Vuong blends grief, healing, and resilience into a powerful and poetic narrative.”—PBS NewsHour

The story of humanity and kindness

Despite all the struggles we humans endure we get through them because there is an element of humanity in all of us. Ocean Vuong words and the vivid details of a life gives us the mundane made into brilliance.. pain into resilience and humor, and above all many true examples of kindness and love. The "heart" that is placed with in this book just astounds me. The narrator was fantastic, giving voice to the characters that we so needed. It's on my list as one of my favorites..

Well written and read but…

I got halfway through this book but realized I really didn’t care about the characters all that much. Maybe it was the “stuckness” of it all that just grinds the story and characters down.

Lasting impression

Vivid descriptions and complex, believable characters that live long beyond the last page. If you’ve ever felt lost and loved, this is the book.

Duh!

Did not like a single thing about this book. I’m sorry I stuck it out to the end.

Witty

Insightful about community formed in a workshop. American experienced by immigrants. The wounds of war.

Meh

I don't understand the reviews for this book. I didn't laugh. I didn't cry. I mostly just wished the story would pick up and feel meaningful. It never did. It wasn't bad; it just didn't ever deliver on what I expected.

There were long descriptions that were hard to follow

Very very depressing. I can’t believe people live like this in our country. The old lady’s son was horrible and so was his family. She and Hai had a beautiful relationship.

Amazing story of what humanity has become as humans advanced to inhumanity.

Loved this story written with insight, gut wrenching truth, and a view of what may become a reality for human kind as we are becoming advanced in technology.

Mesmerizing

Cogent. Thought provoking. Sad. Characters draw you into realities that permit living on though in no particular directions. When you are powerless for countless reasons why does life continue? Even using everything you know and have it’s not enough to survive. Will read his other books. Great writer. Like poetry

Character development

This is a beautifully written story. It leaves nothing to the imagination …you feel every word. The relationship between the main characters is something to be in awe of ….an old lady and a young man forging a friendship. But having said that I found this book incredibly distressing. In fact downright depressing. Again, the writing was excellent, but it was just so depressing. I couldn’t wait to be finished with it.