On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
On Earth We're Briefly GorgeousOcean Vuong
Characters in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
5 characters, main characters first.Main characters
Little Dog
A young Vietnamese American man writing a letter to his illiterate mother about his family's history.
Supporting characters
Rose (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)
Little Dog's mother, a manicurist and Vietnam War refugee whose trauma from a napalm raid on her schoolhouse shaped her life; the novel is addressed to her as a letter she cannot read.
Lan (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)
Little Dog's grandmother, who escaped an arranged marriage during the Vietnam War; her memories of Vietnam recur throughout the book.
Trevor (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)
A farm boy Little Dog meets on a Hartford-area tobacco farm; their relationship, and Trevor's struggle with the opioid crisis, is the novel's emotional centre.