Ocean Vuong

I lasted just 30 minutes. I went in, I looked, I said, it was like war. And I was so interested in that because I think often we say, There's humanity, and then there's animalistic tendencies. But when I look at our history as a species, it's the humans that are the most animalistic. And the way that these hogs were butchered was so cruel, so bloody.

I lasted just 30 minutes. I went in, I looked, I said, it was like war. And I was so interested in that because I think often we say, There's humanity, and then there's animalistic tendencies. But when I look at our history as a species, it's the humans that are the most animalistic. And the way that these hogs were butchered was so cruel, so bloody.

I lasted just 30 minutes. I went in, I looked, I said, it was like war. And I was so interested in that because I think often we say, There's humanity, and then there's animalistic tendencies. But when I look at our history as a species, it's the humans that are the most animalistic. And the way that these hogs were butchered was so cruel, so bloody.

And I wanted to parallel that as an allegory with how labor is in this country. You know, people work day in and night out, and they're just thrown to the wolves. And when their bodies break, as many of my relatives' bodies stop working, my mother's breast cancer, which ultimately killed her, was most likely breathing all the chemicals in factories and nail salons. You're just thrown out.

And I wanted to parallel that as an allegory with how labor is in this country. You know, people work day in and night out, and they're just thrown to the wolves. And when their bodies break, as many of my relatives' bodies stop working, my mother's breast cancer, which ultimately killed her, was most likely breathing all the chemicals in factories and nail salons. You're just thrown out.

And I wanted to parallel that as an allegory with how labor is in this country. You know, people work day in and night out, and they're just thrown to the wolves. And when their bodies break, as many of my relatives' bodies stop working, my mother's breast cancer, which ultimately killed her, was most likely breathing all the chemicals in factories and nail salons. You're just thrown out.

And the slaughter of human beings, both in the opioid epidemic and the labor system, is very parallel to the slaughter of animals. And I've learned that if we want to really know how brutal we can be as a species, we have to look at what we've done to animals. And that becomes the foreshadow of what we will do to each other.

And the slaughter of human beings, both in the opioid epidemic and the labor system, is very parallel to the slaughter of animals. And I've learned that if we want to really know how brutal we can be as a species, we have to look at what we've done to animals. And that becomes the foreshadow of what we will do to each other.

And the slaughter of human beings, both in the opioid epidemic and the labor system, is very parallel to the slaughter of animals. And I've learned that if we want to really know how brutal we can be as a species, we have to look at what we've done to animals. And that becomes the foreshadow of what we will do to each other.

I'm going to sit with that a second.

I'm going to sit with that a second.

I'm going to sit with that a second.

Oh, very good. Very good reader. The professor in me gives you an A+. So there are many allusions to this. And it starts with the Hamlet quote, right? We fat all creatures else to fat us. We fat ourselves for maggots. And so it's a lovely quote because in that is this anxiety of the Anthropocene. All our dreams and wishes for what? to give a nice buffet to the maggots, right?

Oh, very good. Very good reader. The professor in me gives you an A+. So there are many allusions to this. And it starts with the Hamlet quote, right? We fat all creatures else to fat us. We fat ourselves for maggots. And so it's a lovely quote because in that is this anxiety of the Anthropocene. All our dreams and wishes for what? to give a nice buffet to the maggots, right?

Oh, very good. Very good reader. The professor in me gives you an A+. So there are many allusions to this. And it starts with the Hamlet quote, right? We fat all creatures else to fat us. We fat ourselves for maggots. And so it's a lovely quote because in that is this anxiety of the Anthropocene. All our dreams and wishes for what? to give a nice buffet to the maggots, right?

And it's a wonderful way. It sounds morbid, but it's actually a wonderful way to live life, to say that all the petty arguments, for what? We're going to all end up in the same place. If we're lucky, we'll get a deathbed, right? We get to meet the people that raised us and supported us before we become food for maggots. And so the emperor, the ultimate emperor for Shakespeare was the maggot.

And it's a wonderful way. It sounds morbid, but it's actually a wonderful way to live life, to say that all the petty arguments, for what? We're going to all end up in the same place. If we're lucky, we'll get a deathbed, right? We get to meet the people that raised us and supported us before we become food for maggots. And so the emperor, the ultimate emperor for Shakespeare was the maggot.

And it's a wonderful way. It sounds morbid, but it's actually a wonderful way to live life, to say that all the petty arguments, for what? We're going to all end up in the same place. If we're lucky, we'll get a deathbed, right? We get to meet the people that raised us and supported us before we become food for maggots. And so the emperor, the ultimate emperor for Shakespeare was the maggot.

The smallest thing is the ruler of us all. But I like the title as a poet because there's always double meanings, right? So it feels very triumphant when you see it like in a bookstore. The Emperor of Gladness. I'm going to read it and feel all the good things. Yes. But as you see it in the first chapter, Gladness as a town doesn't exist. It's been renamed to Millsap.

The smallest thing is the ruler of us all. But I like the title as a poet because there's always double meanings, right? So it feels very triumphant when you see it like in a bookstore. The Emperor of Gladness. I'm going to read it and feel all the good things. Yes. But as you see it in the first chapter, Gladness as a town doesn't exist. It's been renamed to Millsap.