YouSaid · the spoken record

Ocean Vuong

lines on the record: 57
first: 2025-05-13
most recent: 2025-05-13
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That and says, Oh, this is accessible. You're making the act of reading both accessibly dignified but also fruitful for people who are outside of these realms of institutional eliticism. And I saw the women talk about books in your show and then they would walk across the Barnes& Noble, across the mall, and they would have languaged and they would come in and they would say, this is the book I want. I know how to talk about it. And there's a kind of dignified confidence to literacy.”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then the client would, it always works. At any given time, you could just say, oh boy. And then the client would say, isn't that right? And then she would learn what was happening from them because her voice, her head is down, she couldn't hear it. But I saw this kind of town square that your voice created and the themes and what was really touching for me and I didn't understand at that time, for a community that I grew up in working poor immigrants, reading was very intimidating. We didn't step into bookstores or libraries. It felt like an impenetrable world that was not for us. And it was aligned with eliticism and power and institutions and higher learning that we thought that ship has sailed for us. But when you held up the books in your show, my mother recognized...”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Mediation for all of these women in the nail salon, both the workers and the people who went there to get their nails done. Because I saw them when they came in with their husbands and the husbands will wait for a while and then they would leave. And after a while, it will just be all women. And I found that their voices changed with your voice among them. And as a child, I was so interesting to hear speech. Everyone talking differently, they were more vulnerable. They were more open with each other. And I got to see my mother kind of use the show as a way to open up for herself and to learn the language. She would not always understand what was happening, but she would have this little trick where she every time there was like an inflected moment in the show with your voice, my mother would work on a client. She'd go, oh boy”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Recognize the voice right away. I just didn't believe that you were talking to me for any real reason. But I heard your voice, I said, This is the voice I heard all my life at four o'clock when I answered the phone. And, you know, I wanted to tell you this, that your voice was a kind of...”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This come from this wellspring of Creativity I have to say, I was raised by women who were illiterate, and I think about this often, where does it come from? I think even though they were illiterate, they were the first poets because they saw that when they came to this country with nothing, they realized that with language they can make anything happen. Want to say you and your family To the United States The El Salon for 25 years to support the family. Every That's what you told me when I called you. Sometimes it's just us three me, you, and her. On slow days, I would answer the phone at the nail salon and she would be there working. And what's so interesting was that when you called me, this is Oprah.”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Just have to say I have to stop myself from tearing up when I think about this book. Is epic. It is poignant. Hauntingly beautiful. I read it back in October, and I still sometimes wake up thinking about the characters. Book is called The Emperor of Gladness by celebrated author Ocean Vong. Welcome Ocean Vong. Want to talk to you about This accomplished author with so many awards, hard to mention them all. At just 36, you have a wild list of accomplishments. New York Times bestselling author, a professor of modern poetry at NYU. A multiple award winning poet essayist novelist. Also, won a And English isn't even your first language.”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Over a good book. Delicious cup of curated This book club pick is an ice brown Sugar oat milk, shaken espresso. Ultimate pick me up. So, my 114th book club selection. We're here to talk about it.”
2025-05-13 · The Oprah Podcast · Ocean Vuong: "The Emperor Of Gladness" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT