The Recurring Cast
Ocean Vuong books in order · Ocean Vuong reading order · 2 books · 2019 to 2025 · Mostly set in the fictional East Gladness, Connecticut

Ocean Vuong Books in Order and Reading Order

Literary and generalLiterary fiction

Ocean Vuong is a poet and novelist. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to his mother, and The Emperor of Gladness finds a family among the workers of a fast-food restaurant in Connecticut.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. His poetry collections are left out.

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Ocean Vuong books in order

Ocean Vuong’s first book is On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019). There are 2 books in all, published from 2019 to 2025.

The Ocean Vuong reading order: each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Novels

2 books · Mostly set in the fictional East Gladness, ConnecticutLiterary fiction
  1. 1On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous2019With Little Dog · Set in Hartford, ConnecticutBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Emperor of Gladness2025With Hai and GrazinaBuy on Amazon

Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Characters

5 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Leads

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