Night Owl Book Club In-Person
Please join us for a discussion of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, the debut novel from the author of The Emperor of Gladness, is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.
For adults ages 18 and up. Registration opens April 29. Please call the Thomas Branch at 219-926-7696 for book availability and registration.
- Date:
- Wednesday, May 20, 2026
- Time:
- 6:30pm - 7:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Central Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Bertha Wood Meeting Room
- Branch:
- Thomas Branch
- Audience:
- Adult Senior
- Categories:
- Adult Program Book Review/Discussion