The Emperor of Gladness

Ocean Vuong transports us to the fictional town of East Gladness, Connecticut and immerses us in the lives of its inhabitants--the kinships, the friendships, the trials, the extraordinary in the ordinary which Vuong depicts as acts of "...kindness without hope."

"To be alive, and try to be a decent person, and not turn it into anything big or grand, that's the hardest thing of all...If you can be nobody, and stand on your own two feet for as long as I have, that's enough," observes Grazina, the 82-year-old Lithuanian immigrant. Be prepared for an absorbing read--tender, humorous, exhilarating, and riveting--down to the marrow bone of daily life.

Speaker: John MccBratney, Ph.D. (JCU, English Department, Emeritus)

Program cost includes coffee and lunch

$40 for ACE members