Oprah Winfrey is christening a new title into her coveted monthly book club, and this time it’s the highly anticipated new release from poet and novelist Ocean Vuong.
“The Emperor of Gladness” (out now from Penguin Random House) is the Oprah book club pick for May. It’s Vuong’s second novel, having previously published “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” as well as poetry collections “Time is a Mother” and “Night Sky with Exit Wounds.”
“Ocean draws from his own personal experiences of being born in Vietnam, raised in a working-class family in Connecticut, and working as a fast-food server as inspiration for this story, which features an unlikely cast of truly unforgettable characters,” Winfrey said in a statement. “This award-winning author and acclaimed poet has written in stunning prose, a heartfelt and powerful examination of those living on the fringes of society and the unique challenges they face to survive and thrive.”
Oprah’s Book Club May pick: What is ‘The Emperor of Gladness’ about?
“The Emperor of Gladness” joins a roster of 114 other titles that Winfrey has hand-selected since 1996. The story starts as 19-year-old Hai in East Gladness, Connecticut stands on a bridge, ready to jump. An elderly widow succumbing to dementia stops him, and Hai quickly becomes her caretaker. “The Emperor of Gladness” is a tribute to unlikely bonds and the love, labor and loneliness found in the fabric of American life.
In addition to authoring several works, Vuong is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and won an American Book Award in 2020 for “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.”
“It was the honor of my life to receive ‘the call’ from Oprah,” Vuong said in a statement. “Beyond the immense pride this moment instills in me, Oprah’s Book Club has made reading accessible and approachable to the working-class communities of my childhood. In places where higher education was all but a miraculous dream, the act of reading can be intimidating, exclusionary, not to mention unaffordable for people who spend their days working two to three jobs and twelve-hour shifts. And yet, sitting in my mother’s nail salon, I watched women see Oprah featuring an author on her show, which played each day in the salon, and literally rise from their seats with poise and confidence, saying they’re gonna walk to the Barnes and Noble across the street and buy a book, suddenly armed with access to the discourse, and thereby in possession of the cultural center.
“To think of my book being invited to join such a profound lineage is truly awe-inspiring. I only wish my mother were alive to see it. Among all the literary achievements in an author’s life, this would be the one she truly recognizes.”
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].
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