The Emperor of Gladness
Random House
The instant New York Times bestseller • Oprah’s Book Club Pick • A Goodreads Choice Awards finalist • Named a Best Book of 2025 by TIME, The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, USA Today, NPR, People, Christian Science Monitor, Scientific American, and Kirkus Reviews • Winner of the Nautilus Book Award • Longlisted for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence“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 WinfreyOcean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to surviveThe 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...
