Ocean Vuong

Another side of YOLO is that, well, if you only live once, how do you live...

in a generative way?

How do you live with care and consideration with the meditative practice you just did?

You don't have to be a monk and sit there and go om and do chanting.

You can actually do it while listening to someone talk, right?

Absolutely.

And I think for me, there's what society counts.

And often because we don't know any better, we're told that we are, it's almost like a download.

Society downloads us.

the set of values into us.

And then we say, well, I need to get a good job.

I need to get out of here, right?

And that's why like this novel, there's no escape plot, right?

these are working poor people, they remain so, but it doesn't mean that their lives are doomed.

You know, I reject this idea that a story about down and out poor people is only valuable if they can escape it.

Because there's plenty of films, plenty of novels about that.

And I think as Americans, we fetishize rescue.

I think there are more Americans rescued in American films than actual Americans.

And yeah, it feels good to watch that movie.

Oh gosh, look, they rose out of it.