Bill Herbert, reflecting on the poetry collection's selection for the
T. S. Eliot Prize, said: "There is a mystery at the heart of the book about generational karma, this migrant figure coming to terms with his relationship with his past, his relationship with his father and his relationship with his sexuality. All of that is borne out in some quite extraordinary imagery. The view of the world from this book is quite stunning."
Michiko Kakutani, writing for
The New York Times, said that the collection "beautifully attests to Mr. Vuong’s own ability to use the magic of words to summon and preserve the past". Eric Nguyen, in
Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network's
diaCRITICS, wrote: "For all we have ruined—with wars, domestic abuse, homophobia, racism, etc—Vuong is still hopeful; this is precisely why he’s the poet we need now more than ever. He lays bare our brutal histories and tells us, yes, we can do better." Christopher Soto, writing for
Lambda Literary, said "Ocean Vuong is a formally inventive, thematically brave, emotionally intelligent poet, so worthy of the reader’s trust. There are few poets alive who can morph image and language and tone in the manner that Ocean Vuong did with this debut collection." Peter LaBerge, in the
Harvard Review, said "Vuong accomplishes with sophistication and grace what many poets only strive to accomplish: he invites us to experience a world where hardship and isolation are expectations ... This voice, Vuong’s necessary, shimmering voice, fills us to the core." Dan Lopez, writing for
The Los Angeles Review of Books, said that "But for all his laments, Vuong holds out hope for a life that isn’t defined by fear." == Awards ==