Ocean Vuong

Don't be afraid of not knowing. You owe it to yourself to go to the root of the mystery. And that is to work not only a pedagogy of an education, but also of life. It goes beyond books.

Yeah. You know, America has often been founded on the idea of the nuclear family. And one antidote to that might be the found family. But I actually think when we look at the history of our culture, it's the circumstantial family. founded around labor.

Yeah. You know, America has often been founded on the idea of the nuclear family. And one antidote to that might be the found family. But I actually think when we look at the history of our culture, it's the circumstantial family. founded around labor.

Yeah. You know, America has often been founded on the idea of the nuclear family. And one antidote to that might be the found family. But I actually think when we look at the history of our culture, it's the circumstantial family. founded around labor.

And so when I worked at Boston Market as a teenager, I found that it was actually the relationships that you had with people you don't choose, people who are cobbled together, working through a shift, and you start to know their footsteps. you start to feel the cologne they wear, the gum, and when that gum will expire. You can hear how they cough, how they talk.

And so when I worked at Boston Market as a teenager, I found that it was actually the relationships that you had with people you don't choose, people who are cobbled together, working through a shift, and you start to know their footsteps. you start to feel the cologne they wear, the gum, and when that gum will expire. You can hear how they cough, how they talk.

And so when I worked at Boston Market as a teenager, I found that it was actually the relationships that you had with people you don't choose, people who are cobbled together, working through a shift, and you start to know their footsteps. you start to feel the cologne they wear, the gum, and when that gum will expire. You can hear how they cough, how they talk.

And the intimacy that comes from the circumstantial labor cobbled together is actually the foundation of so much of our country. So much of it is founded on labor, loneliness, and love in the midst of all that.

And the intimacy that comes from the circumstantial labor cobbled together is actually the foundation of so much of our country. So much of it is founded on labor, loneliness, and love in the midst of all that.

And the intimacy that comes from the circumstantial labor cobbled together is actually the foundation of so much of our country. So much of it is founded on labor, loneliness, and love in the midst of all that.

Well, I think when I was a fiction student, we were told, going back to Aristotle, that the greatest work of fiction usually has a reversal of fate. You have to change at the end to bring the audience a kind of catharsis. Rags to riches. He gets the girl. The girl gets the guy. You're going to find the body. You'll find the murderer.

Well, I think when I was a fiction student, we were told, going back to Aristotle, that the greatest work of fiction usually has a reversal of fate. You have to change at the end to bring the audience a kind of catharsis. Rags to riches. He gets the girl. The girl gets the guy. You're going to find the body. You'll find the murderer.

Well, I think when I was a fiction student, we were told, going back to Aristotle, that the greatest work of fiction usually has a reversal of fate. You have to change at the end to bring the audience a kind of catharsis. Rags to riches. He gets the girl. The girl gets the guy. You're going to find the body. You'll find the murderer.

So it works in a very commercial way that there's a promise of catharsis. There's a kind of deliverable.

So it works in a very commercial way that there's a promise of catharsis. There's a kind of deliverable.

So it works in a very commercial way that there's a promise of catharsis. There's a kind of deliverable.

And it works in the same way when you buy a car or a home or a washing machine. And I thought, and yet... American life as I saw it growing up as an immigrant in this country didn't work like that. My aunt works at FedEx for almost 40 years. My brother works at Dick's Sporting Goods for 15 years. The people who I love, they work the same jobs. They drive the same car.

And it works in the same way when you buy a car or a home or a washing machine. And I thought, and yet... American life as I saw it growing up as an immigrant in this country didn't work like that. My aunt works at FedEx for almost 40 years. My brother works at Dick's Sporting Goods for 15 years. The people who I love, they work the same jobs. They drive the same car.

And it works in the same way when you buy a car or a home or a washing machine. And I thought, and yet... American life as I saw it growing up as an immigrant in this country didn't work like that. My aunt works at FedEx for almost 40 years. My brother works at Dick's Sporting Goods for 15 years. The people who I love, they work the same jobs. They drive the same car.

They live in the same homes for 20, 30 years. Some of them don't get raises. Some of them don't move up. And yet their lives are not worthless. It's not like their lives are not... Meaningful. Meaningful. Yeah. You know, and there was this... When I was trying to learn how to be a writer, everyone said, you have to change, you have to improve.