The Emperor of Gladness

　　「令人嘆為觀止…本書懇切和仔細地側寫社會上的邊緣人，呈現他們為了生存與發展所面臨的獨特挑戰。」—歐普拉

　　這世界上最大的難題，就是你只能活一次…

　　一個夏末的傍晚，大雨滂沱，Hai這位19歲的大學輟學生兼止痛藥成癮者，正準備從康乃狄克州這個小鎮的某座橋上跳下去，卻聽到來自對面的呼喊。原來是一位患有失智症的老太太Grazina，出面勸退了他。於是Hai便留下來，成為Grazina的居家看護。兩個擁有著痛苦經歷的人，彼此相互扶持陪伴。

　　作者王鷗行以詩意而陰鬱的文筆，將Grazina在史達林大清洗期間，逃離故鄉立陶宛的回憶，搭配美國內戰、以及他自身一家從越南逃至美國的經歷，交融縱橫，從歷史角度去探究美國這塊土地上，勞動、孤獨和愛，是如何構成生活的基石。《The Emperor of Gladness》以史詩般的筆法，討論社會邊緣人的生活和社會集體的傷痛，以及我們為了爭取重生的機會所願意付出的代價。(文／博客來外文館)

　　Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive
 
　　One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.

　　Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Ocean Vuong’s writing—formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness—are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.