Ocean Vuong

And when you turn the page, it would slip right off the binding, flutter through the field, gathering inky blotches through the wet grass until it tangles between the boy's legs and disintegrates under a pair of black cleats. The words gone to ground.

Yeah, yeah. And it's so seldom written about. I think we really fetishize the stories that have these escape arcs and these improvement arcs, rags to riches. It's so interesting because we see it in our films, even magazine stories, things that are written about me. Refugee Kid makes good, right, writing his first book. So the story, the profiles are all around that myth.

Yeah, yeah. And it's so seldom written about. I think we really fetishize the stories that have these escape arcs and these improvement arcs, rags to riches. It's so interesting because we see it in our films, even magazine stories, things that are written about me. Refugee Kid makes good, right, writing his first book. So the story, the profiles are all around that myth.

Yeah, yeah. And it's so seldom written about. I think we really fetishize the stories that have these escape arcs and these improvement arcs, rags to riches. It's so interesting because we see it in our films, even magazine stories, things that are written about me. Refugee Kid makes good, right, writing his first book. So the story, the profiles are all around that myth.

Meanwhile, I grew up looking around. And all I saw was stagnation in American life. But it didn't mean that it was doomed. If you ask, my stepdad worked at Standardine. What is Standardine? Standardine is a company in Connecticut. It's no longer there. He worked there for 25 years. And its entire manufacturing was to manufacture a single screw that went into gas pumps.

Meanwhile, I grew up looking around. And all I saw was stagnation in American life. But it didn't mean that it was doomed. If you ask, my stepdad worked at Standardine. What is Standardine? Standardine is a company in Connecticut. It's no longer there. He worked there for 25 years. And its entire manufacturing was to manufacture a single screw that went into gas pumps.

Meanwhile, I grew up looking around. And all I saw was stagnation in American life. But it didn't mean that it was doomed. If you ask, my stepdad worked at Standardine. What is Standardine? Standardine is a company in Connecticut. It's no longer there. He worked there for 25 years. And its entire manufacturing was to manufacture a single screw that went into gas pumps.

And if you asked him, a refugee who escaped by boat, living, people, you know, relieving themselves on a tiny boat, throwing up overboard, seven days he spent at sea. And you asked him, did you manage to live your American life the way you wanted? Without batting an eye, he would say yes. Because he said... I have a uniform.

And if you asked him, a refugee who escaped by boat, living, people, you know, relieving themselves on a tiny boat, throwing up overboard, seven days he spent at sea. And you asked him, did you manage to live your American life the way you wanted? Without batting an eye, he would say yes. Because he said... I have a uniform.

And if you asked him, a refugee who escaped by boat, living, people, you know, relieving themselves on a tiny boat, throwing up overboard, seven days he spent at sea. And you asked him, did you manage to live your American life the way you wanted? Without batting an eye, he would say yes. Because he said... I have a uniform.

There's a stitching on the right chest with my name, my Vietnamese name, in diacritics. And our living room was so spare because we couldn't hang anything up. It was a HUD housing rental. So if you want to hang something up, you want to put a hole in something, you have to ask permission. It's a bureaucratic nightmare. You can't paint. You don't own anything.

There's a stitching on the right chest with my name, my Vietnamese name, in diacritics. And our living room was so spare because we couldn't hang anything up. It was a HUD housing rental. So if you want to hang something up, you want to put a hole in something, you have to ask permission. It's a bureaucratic nightmare. You can't paint. You don't own anything.

There's a stitching on the right chest with my name, my Vietnamese name, in diacritics. And our living room was so spare because we couldn't hang anything up. It was a HUD housing rental. So if you want to hang something up, you want to put a hole in something, you have to ask permission. It's a bureaucratic nightmare. You can't paint. You don't own anything.

So we lived in a kind of, it felt like a stage set. It wasn't ours. But he would come home and he put a thumbtack on the wall. He would hang that uniform every single day. And he said, I lived my life on my term. That was my American life that I wanted. He had health care. He had a salary. It's very relative for me because when I looked at his life, I saw something full of loss.

So we lived in a kind of, it felt like a stage set. It wasn't ours. But he would come home and he put a thumbtack on the wall. He would hang that uniform every single day. And he said, I lived my life on my term. That was my American life that I wanted. He had health care. He had a salary. It's very relative for me because when I looked at his life, I saw something full of loss.

So we lived in a kind of, it felt like a stage set. It wasn't ours. But he would come home and he put a thumbtack on the wall. He would hang that uniform every single day. And he said, I lived my life on my term. That was my American life that I wanted. He had health care. He had a salary. It's very relative for me because when I looked at his life, I saw something full of loss.

This man went to bed, woke up at 3pm to go to work, went to bed at 12am. I never saw him. He never saw his kids. My mother never saw him. And I looked at that, I said, gosh, my life needs to be different. Meanwhile, that was his triumph. And so to me, growing up, I realized that there are many versions of triumphs.

This man went to bed, woke up at 3pm to go to work, went to bed at 12am. I never saw him. He never saw his kids. My mother never saw him. And I looked at that, I said, gosh, my life needs to be different. Meanwhile, that was his triumph. And so to me, growing up, I realized that there are many versions of triumphs.

This man went to bed, woke up at 3pm to go to work, went to bed at 12am. I never saw him. He never saw his kids. My mother never saw him. And I looked at that, I said, gosh, my life needs to be different. Meanwhile, that was his triumph. And so to me, growing up, I realized that there are many versions of triumphs.

And I'm not interested in the American dream so much as I'm interested in Americans who dream. Because him and I had two different dreams. Both of them are valid dreams.