Oprah Winfrey unveiled her latest book club selection Tuesday on “CBS Mornings,” choosing “The Emperor of Gladness” by acclaimed author and poet Ocean Vuong.
During the exclusive announcement, Winfrey described the novel as containing “some of the most beautiful writing I’ve experienced in my lifetime,” and praised Vuong’s ability to “capture the essence of just ordinary people.”
“When I tell everybody, would you just read the first chapter. And if you read the first chapter, you’re gonna be hooked,” Winfrey said.
The novel opens with the line, “The hardest thing in the world is to live only once,” and follows 19-year-old Hai who develops a profound connection with Grazina, an elderly widow suffering from dementia.
In the interview, Vuong shared that the story was inspired by personal experience, noting that suicide is “a very personal thing” following his uncle’s death by suicide in 2012. Rather than focusing solely on the moment of crisis, Vuong said he wanted to explore what happens after.
“Often in stories or news segments, we have the suicide at the edge of the bridge. And then when they come off that bridge, and God willing they do, we all clap. Everything’s back to normal,” Vuong said. “But I’ve always thought what’s happened for that person on day two of that decision. Day three, day 20. Because their life still is in shambles.”
The author said the unlikely bond between his main characters, noting that “both the young people and the very old have been pushed on the margins” of society, creating “masses amount of loneliness on both sides of that age spectrum.”
There is also a personal connection between Winfrey and Vuong, who shared that his mother, a nail salon worker in Connecticut, regularly watched “The Oprah Show.” Vuong said as a child, he watched women feel empowered through reading.
When asked what his late mother would think of his book being selected for Oprah’s Book Club, Vuong said it would be the only literary achievement she would have fully recognized, saying “This is the only thing that would be legible to her.”
“I hope she’s proud of me. I hope she’s seeing me somewhere,” Vuong said.
Vuong’s previous work includes the bestselling novel “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” and the poetry collection “Time Is a Mother.”
“The Emperor of Gladness” is on sale now.
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