The Emperor of Gladness: A Novel by Ocean Vuong

The Emperor of Gladness is the breathtaking new novel by Ocean Vuong — author of the internationally acclaimed On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous — and an Oprah's Book Club 2025 selection.

Imagine holding a book so luminous, so achingly beautiful, that each sentence feels like a poem written just for you. That is the experience of reading Ocean Vuong. With The Emperor of Gladness, he returns with a novel that burns with warmth, grief, and an extraordinary tenderness for what it means to be alive.

Vuong's prose — radiant, precise, and deeply felt — guides us through a story of joy and sorrow, of bodies and belonging, of the small and enormous moments that make up a human life. This is literary fiction at its most transcendent.

• Oprah's Book Club 2025 Pick
• By Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
• A novel of rare beauty, tenderness, and emotional depth
• Perfect for fans of literary fiction and poetic prose
• One of the most anticipated novels of the year

A book to savour slowly — and to return to again and again.