Duong’s Reviews > On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous > Status Update

lots of intimate details of his relationship with trevor and his relationship with drugs. trevor also overdosed multiple times and died. his grandma also died from bone cancer. despite his tough upbringings, we can tell that he loves this decrepit place without romanticizing it, its still very gritty

his mother's mental decline, presumably from ptsd, is very sad. describes lots of his personal life like his first boyfriend, first sexual experience, the internalised misogyny in his boyfriend (not wanting to be bottomed because he doesn't want to feel like a girl), how being a sub bottom empowered him (trauma response?), when he came out to his mum

paul (his step-grandfather) and ocean vuong has a really sweet relationship, i can tell it means a lot to both of them. we see a tender moment of his grandmother and mother giving him an ugly nickname to "spiritually protect him".

we find out more ocean vuong's family history, ties to the republic of vietnam government. his father died in custody of the communists. his "grandfather" is not actually his grandfather. he's navigating understanding his own identity

this is significantly better as spoken poetry. ocean vuong is a great narrator. the analogy about the deer taxidermy is beautiful. but like i think this is no plot just vibes

theres this chaotic part when they're all confined in the car that's supposed to represent them being entrapped in the confines of generational trauma but i dont think its done well. hovering 3-4 atars