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Walking with 'The Emperor of Gladness,' author Ocean Vuong

WBUR | By Emiko Tamagawa
Published July 23, 2026 at 9:00 AM PDT
The cover of "The Emperor of Gladness" and author Ocean Vuong. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gioncarlo Valentine)
Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gioncarlo Valentine
The cover of "The Emperor of Gladness" and author Ocean Vuong. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gioncarlo Valentine)

Acclaimed author and poet Ocean Vuong‘s latest book, “The Emperor of Gladness,” is out in paperback.

Here & Now‘s Emiko Tamagawa took a walk with Vuong by the Mill River in Massachusetts to talk about the book and the inspiration he finds on his river walks.

Book excerpt: ‘The Emperor of Gladness’

By Ocean Vuong

From “The Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong, published by Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Ocean Vuong

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR
Emiko Tamagawa