"Night Sky with Exit Wounds" by Ocean Vuong: A Lannan Literary Selection

Ste7en Foster: Every pub I respect and every piece I read that mentioned Ocean Vuong slobbered all over him. I don't know why it took me so long to get it. It's slim, to be sure. But not everything needs to be a Franzen doorstopper. This book is elegant, serene, deeply moving. Vuong's a lyricist with the english language. This is one I'll read many, many times a year. It's books like these that I'm glad everything didn't go Kindle. This is a keeper. A work you want to hold in your hands.

United States on Apr 02, 2022

Dulce Figueiras: Agradavel leitura

Spain on Feb 05, 2022

Shane Healy: Amazing poetry with themes of war and family. Some went over my head but most really play with words and meaning in unique ways and grab you.

United Kingdom on Jun 04, 2021

Christine Wairimu: I remember coming across Ocean's work through a friend who shared a poem from this book. Ocean's work grips you from the very start, the use of language, imagery, biblical allusion and so much more all come together to immerse you deeply into every piece you read. When he speaks of the ocean you can hear it come to life, in every room they put you int you see yourself there.
My favourite poem of many in the book is Immigrant Haibun, a line which says ''if you must know anything know that you were born because no one else was coming.
I have reread this book countless times and will continue to return to it.

United States on Jan 05, 2021

rencwalker: The item itself is lovely! Was recommended by a friend and I'm glad I ordered it. Now, the delivery was awful, found the parcel left on the floor a bit further away from the door. There are two flats and 4 people living in the building, yet, no one knocked the doorbells OR the door. Since the item is a book I'm enraged because it was a rainy day and there was the possibility of damaging the item. If there was to be a no contact delivery I would appreciate to know that my parcel has been put in a safe place so that there will be no damage.
I am content with the book but cannot excuse the delivery way.

United Kingdom on Nov 13, 2020

Chris: This has been my first exposure to Ocean Vuong's work. I've had this book for a couple days now. Only 13 pages in. And not because I don't want to read more, but because I can only take so much. It's been a long time since poetry has affected me like this. Maybe since I first read "Braiding" by Li-Young Lee over a decade ago. This is a seriously heavy, astonishing collection of work. It tears into you one passage at a time. I'm so glad I purchased this book. It's one I'll be holding onto for quite some time.

United States on Jun 23, 2020

Spivey: This was a heartfelt, interesting collection with some experimental styles. Personally I didn't feel like the unique formatting for some of the poems really benefited them and I sometimes had trouble finding Ocean's voice in the poems I hadn't already heard him read aloud. There were some metaphors I could not wrap my head around and I was sometimes confused about the speaker of the poem. However, each poem is beautiful and the story about family and war linked with love and circumstance is powerful. I think I may just prefer listening to Ocean read his own poems than to read them myself after reading this collection.

United States on May 16, 2019

J: I cannot recommend this book enough. It is worth every penny and more. Vuong invites us into a space where he is vulnerable and intimate, and I found myself deeply emotional while reading many of the pieces. Finding this poetry collection was a turning point in my own work. Vuong's use of language, line breaks, and striking imagery are fantastic studies for any budding poet, and highly enjoyable to read and analyze. I can't wait for more!

Canada on Mar 31, 2019

Glynn Young: Poet Ocean Vuong spent the first two years of his life in a refugee camp. When he was two, he, His mother, and grandmother settled in the United States. He never knew his father. He grew up hearing the stories of Vietnam from his mother and grandmother. Born in a country he can't remember, and with a father he never knew, and likely asking questions that could never be answered, Vuong did what many of us might do.

He created a past life. Part of that creation became "Night Sky with Exit Wounds," which won the 2016 Whiting Award and has now won the 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize.

The collection is comprised of some 35 poems. Several of the poems are directly about his father, and Vuong imagines different reasons (and realities) for not knowing him. His father was imprisoned. His father is shot and dumped in the ocean, his body washing up on a beach. His father drowns in Newport Beach, California. His father is caught up in what happened in Vietnam. His father is an American soldier. The family is sailing on a refugee boat, fleeing a burning city. Vuong creates these different realities to fill a void, a painful void, one that leaves the poet experiencing his own "exit...

United States on Jan 30, 2018

Lykaios: Ah man, who doesn't love Ocean Vuong? His poetry is rich with emotion and imagery, and there's a certain kind of intensity I'm not sure how to describe behind his work. 'One day I'll Love Ocean Vuong' is probably my favourite, and has been my favourite since I read it a while ago online. It's got a lyricness to it that I adore and it can be read and interpreted in so many different ways and somehow feels deeply personal to me, despite it being so grounded in Vuong's own experiences and relationships. But that's one of the things I adore about reading poetry, how transient and personal it all is. I'd recommend him to anyone, really -- he's accessible, I think, even if you've not got a foundation in poetry or are trying to find something a bit different. Great for someone dipping their toes into the poetry world.

United Kingdom on Aug 21, 2016