Ocean Vuong & Thi Bui
from Booklovers Hosted by Jess and Joseph
In this episode, we’re looking at two stories of Vietnamese families who immigrate to America, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong and The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. While the families are pressed into change by the Vietnam War and its impact on the country, the war itself lingers at the very edges of both books, which are centered primarily around relationships between children who carve their own paths and parents who want an American experience for their kids (whatever that means). While On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is an autobiographical novel and The Best We Could Do is a graphic memoir, both tackle the ultimately universal themes of belonging and the need for understanding, along with generational trauma and the search for identity.
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