“These poems glisten and rattle, and they deftly mine a host of diverse topics—sex; privilege, beauty, art, poverty, death—to offer us a fresh way of evaluating and understanding our world. Vuong expertly unwraps clichés and rewraps them in fresh packaging so we can perceive their meanings anew. On each page he demonstrates that untranslatable is a meaningless word. His poems say, We’re all humans having human experiences. Let’s figure this all out together.” —Vulture; “49 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022” “All of Ocean Vuong’s writing shows a masterful attention to detail. He comes at language with a magnifying glass. He holds words differently than everyone else, and when he hands them to you, they are changed. . . . Dealing with the death of his mother, this new book comes from a place of grief and memory, turning loss over and over in a way that only this writer can.” —LitHub; “Most Anticipated Books of 2022” “Ocean Vuong’s sentences are like tiny icebergs: exquisite and annihilating.” —Nylon; “24 Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2022” “Among the most haunting in the collection is a poem that lists items ordered from Amazon leading up to the death of his mother from cancer, the last line—one pair of woolen socks—a singular reminder that we come here alone and we die alone, regardless of whether time nurtures us or not.” —Oprah Daily, “The 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2022” “Stories of personal loss are woven into vignettes and memories that explore the most sweeping of subjects—addiction; racism, war, death, family—with a gentle, modest touch and the occasional dose of humor. So, too, does Vuong once again prove himself the rare writer in whose hands experiments with form can become a thing of beauty in and of themselves. . . . Indeed, for all his technical prowess, the most striking thing about Vuong’s writing will always be its warm, beating heart even in the face of life’s cruelties. . . . It’s a body of work as hauntingly beautiful as it is ultimately hopeful, and very possibly Vuong’s best yet.” —Vogue.com; “The Best Books of 2022: A Preview” “[A] stirring collection of poetry. [Vuong] experiments with language and form while probing the aftermath of his mother’s death and his determination to survive it. Take your time with these poems, and return to them often.” —The Washington Post, “The books to read in 2022 based on what you loved in 2021” “Both Jarrett and Hess say this poetry collection, Vuong’s second, should be on your radar in 2022. . . . ‘The poetry is just incredible and so moving;’ Hess said. ‘Anyone can read it and cull from it what they need from it at that time, which I love because it really speaks to so many people across many aspects of life.’” —Boston.com; “23 books to look out for in 2022, according to local experts”
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