David Marchese

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm David Marchese. In a lot of ways, Ocean Vuong's life makes for a classic American success story. He and his mother came to this country as refugees from Vietnam in 1990, when he was just a small child. They landed in Hartford, Connecticut, and pretty quickly fell into a hardscrabble existence ruled by low-paying work and low expectations.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm David Marchese. In a lot of ways, Ocean Vuong's life makes for a classic American success story. He and his mother came to this country as refugees from Vietnam in 1990, when he was just a small child. They landed in Hartford, Connecticut, and pretty quickly fell into a hardscrabble existence ruled by low-paying work and low expectations.

Until, that is, Ocean discovered literature and his own gift for writing. Vuong is now one of the country's most esteemed poets, winner of a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a Genius Grant, and he's a professor in the creative writing department at New York University.

Until, that is, Ocean discovered literature and his own gift for writing. Vuong is now one of the country's most esteemed poets, winner of a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a Genius Grant, and he's a professor in the creative writing department at New York University.

His debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, came out in 2019 and became a bestseller and a bonafide millennial classic. All this, and he's still only 36 years old. But there's another side to Vuong's story, and that's about the flip side of success and the lingering pain of his mixed-up youth.

His debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, came out in 2019 and became a bestseller and a bonafide millennial classic. All this, and he's still only 36 years old. But there's another side to Vuong's story, and that's about the flip side of success and the lingering pain of his mixed-up youth.

It's that part of his story, the one that doesn't resolve so neatly, that lies at the heart of his new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. It's a bigger book in every respect than his first, in a way that makes Vuong kind of nervous about how it'll be received.

It's that part of his story, the one that doesn't resolve so neatly, that lies at the heart of his new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. It's a bigger book in every respect than his first, in a way that makes Vuong kind of nervous about how it'll be received.

I'll say, too, that the book was a launching pad for what turned out to be one of the most emotionally intense interviews I think I've ever done. Here's my conversation with Ocean Vuong. So thank you for taking the time to do this. I appreciate it. Thank you, David. Pleasure.

I'll say, too, that the book was a launching pad for what turned out to be one of the most emotionally intense interviews I think I've ever done. Here's my conversation with Ocean Vuong. So thank you for taking the time to do this. I appreciate it. Thank you, David. Pleasure.

So Emperor of Gladness, your new novel, is based at least in part on your experiences working at fast food restaurants in small town Connecticut. So where did you work and what were the jobs there?

So Emperor of Gladness, your new novel, is based at least in part on your experiences working at fast food restaurants in small town Connecticut. So where did you work and what were the jobs there?

Yeah. What did you learn about people from working at Boston Market and Panera Bread?

Yeah. What did you learn about people from working at Boston Market and Panera Bread?

I don't want it. Too much you didn't want the responsibility. You don't want the responsibility. Yeah. Yeah. It's a slightly different setting, but I worked as a waiter for a catering company.

I don't want it. Too much you didn't want the responsibility. You don't want the responsibility. Yeah. Yeah. It's a slightly different setting, but I worked as a waiter for a catering company.

And so much of what you just said paralleled exactly my experience of that, the way you're just sort of thrown in with this group of disparate people. Yeah. Somehow you make it work. You know, people get on your nerves. There's other people you like. There's people you can rely on. There's people you can't rely on. But at the end of the night, everyone has done their jobs.

And so much of what you just said paralleled exactly my experience of that, the way you're just sort of thrown in with this group of disparate people. Yeah. Somehow you make it work. You know, people get on your nerves. There's other people you like. There's people you can rely on. There's people you can't rely on. But at the end of the night, everyone has done their jobs.

But I will say we worked a lot of bar mitzvahs and weddings and the parties for that, you know, anniversaries, retirement parties. And that's when I realized, like, that you learn so much about people from the way they treat their presumed subordinates.

But I will say we worked a lot of bar mitzvahs and weddings and the parties for that, you know, anniversaries, retirement parties. And that's when I realized, like, that you learn so much about people from the way they treat their presumed subordinates.