‘One of the best books I’ve ever, ever read’: Oprah picks Ocean Vuong’s new novel for her book club

A new novel from acclaimed poet and Massachusetts resident Ocean Vuong is earning high praise from Oprah Winfrey.

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Books

By Dialynn Dwyer

May 13, 2025

2 minutes to read

A new novel from acclaimed poet and author Ocean Vuong, a Massachusetts resident, is earning high praise from Oprah Winfrey after being selected as her book club’s latest read. 

Vuong’s second novel, “The Emperor of Gladness,” was released Tuesday. The Northampton resident appeared on “CBS Mornings” with Winfrey to discuss its selection for her book club. 

“I picked it because I thought that it was some of the most beautiful writing I’ve experienced in my lifetime,” Winfrey said. “I think it’s poetic literature, and I think that Ocean Vuong’s ability to capture the essence of just ordinary people is like nobody I’ve ever experienced.”

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The novel follows the story of 19-year-old Hai, who develops a life-changing bond with Grazina, an elderly widow with dementia. 

Winfrey said the book contains “more beautiful words than I could even imagine in one story.”

“It’s one of the best books I’ve ever, ever read,” she said. 

Vuong said with emotion that it was an honor to have his novel selected for Winfrey’s book club, recalling the significance of the program for his mother, her colleagues, and their clients at a Connecticut nail salon.

“Where I come from, working class people, the act of reading could be very intimidating,” he said. “Most of the clients in my mother’s nail salon were working women, single mothers who didn’t have second degrees, who only have high school education. And when I watched them, when they saw her book club show, they would get up from the chair with a different posture.”

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The women would walk with confidence to the nearby Barnes and Noble for the book, Vuong recalled. Oprah’s Book Club offered them “a ticket into the discourse,” he said. 

“[Winfrey] made the act of reading accessible,” Vuong said. “And I watched these women feel so empowered, and I think it opened up the possibility of reading for them in ways that they never would have gotten.”

That power of books made an impression on him as a boy, and Vuong said the importance of access continues to resonate with him as a first generation immigrant, first generation college graduate, and educator. 

Vuong’s previous works include his novel, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” and his two poetry collections, “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” and “Time Is a Mother.”

Winfrey said that Vuong is “one of the most extraordinary human beings I’ve ever met.”

“If you haven’t been introduced to him, he is one of America’s greatest treasures,” Winfrey said. 

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