The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong with Recipe from Felixstowe Honey
Author
A Vietnamese American poet, novelist and writer of essays, Ocean Vuong (born 1988) is known for working with themes of queer desire and identity, trauma, war, the immigrant experience, profound loss and the impacts of addiction.
Born in Saigon, he immigrated with his family, aged two, to America.
A refugee in a new country, he grew up in Connecticut, raised by a household of women, mother, aunt and grandmother.
None of these grown up read or wrote English, but he remembers them being wonderful story tellers.
A talented story teller himself, he went to Brooklyn College and after working to get a BA in American literature, he found his way to New York University to get his MFA in poetry.
His first collection of poetry released in 2016, (Night Sky with Exit Wounds), was a great success, winning a ton of prizes.
With a fanfare of recognition, his first novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, came out in 2019 and was heralded as a ‘millennial classic’ becoming an overnight bestseller.
Right now, Ocean is a practising Buddhist, is a tenured professor of creative writing at New York University and lives in Massachusetts with his partner.
Ocean Vuong
The Book
Foodie Book Club April choice, The Emperor of Gladness, was Oceans second novel and reached the world in 2025 and as expected, was a success.
The book follows Hai, a 19 recovering drug addict, as he becomes friends, and carer, with an elderly woman suffering from dementia.
After she stops Hai jumping to his death off a bridge, 82-year-old Lithuanian Grazina, welcomes him into her home and he begins living with her while he finds his way in the world.
Finding his purpose by caring for Grazina, Hai finds a job in a fast food chain, where he finds quirky co-workers who form a ‘family’ of characters living on the edges of the American dream.
The book ends with Grazina taken to a care home, and Hai lying in a cocoon of rubbish in a dumpster at the back of the supermarket.
He has taken a ‘half handful’ of pills and calls his mother for the last time, carrying on his lie to her about him being in Boston training to be a doctor.
What ultimately happens to him, is left up to the reader.
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
My Thoughts
I felt, because of the rave reviews and reception it got, that I was supposed to love this book, but I didn’t, and not because it wasn’t written well, but because I’m just a fan of more action and movement in a book.
I don’t think I’m the first person who’s read this that felt the pace was slow and that there were parts of it that were too prolonged. RE: the pig killing part.
I listened to the book, and felt the reader did a good job with the nuances of the writing, and I’m not sure if I’d been reading it, instead of listening, if I’d have lasted as long as I did with it.
I enjoyed the characters from the fast-food chain Hai worked at, they were fun, quirky and well rounded, if not a little too much of a caricature.
They played a lovely counterbalance to Hai’s serious outlook.
My favourite person was Grazina. I felt she was written with a heart and sympathy for her dementia, it helped show Hai’s more empathic side which was a relief from what I felt was his usual self-pitying character.
I’m sure I’m the exception and not the rule when it comes to not loving this book, but I give it a 2 ½ egg rating.
@ 1/2 Egg Rating from me
Cook
This recipe is gifted to me by one of my favourite contributors, Janice from Felixstowe Home & Honey.
Janice is a great cook and often shares her family recipes with everyone on Twitter.
Janice says that this is “Food for the soul”, and i believe her.
Find Janice and all her honey products on her Etsy shop here, and her Twitter account here !
Mums Chicken Vindaloo
Recipe
Mums Chicken Vindaloo
1.5KG chicken drumsticks
4 potatoes diced up
1 tbs Kashmiri chilli power
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbs coriander power
1 tsp graham masala
1/4 cup vinegar (you can use white or brown)
1 Onion thinly sliced
2 tsp ginger/garlic paste
2 sticks cinnamon
4/6 cloves
2 star anise
Hand full of chopped coriander.
3/4 tbs oil
Salt to taste
Method
Heat oil in a large pot that has a lid - lid needed later
Once the oil is heated , fry onions along with the cinnamon, cloves and star anise
Once onions are translucent add the ginger and garlic paste and fry well
Add the tomato paste, mix and fry well
Add the chili powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander and graham masala and keep frying until fragrant
Add the chicken and fry before turning the heat down to low and covering with a lid
Carry one cooking for a further 10min. or until chicken is cooked all the way through.
If you are adding the potatoes stir through potatoes and cook until chicken is cooked thoroughly and the potatoes are soft
Stir through the vinegar add salt to taste and cook for a further 5min.
Turn off the stove and stir through the fresh coriander.
Enjoy with pepper-water, steamed rice and a papadam on the side.
