Review by Josephine Peppers of “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” by Ocean Vuong

So I have a little bookcase in my pub with books left behind by customers and so far I have a small collection which is consists of four books, Kinsella’s Shopaholic, Dario Fo’s Trampets & Raspberries, Jonathan Taylor’s Entertaining Strangers, and Ocean’s Night Sky. At home I have more books, but now I’m writing about my time in the pub, especially when it’s very quiet and I can read. I don’t drink when I’m in the pub and I don’t drink when I’m not in the pub either, FYI. I also don’t get poetry to be honest, in most cases I don’t, sometimes it’s nice to read poetry, but usually it is not. Before I start reading a book I always study the back cover and the flaps inside. I really, really like doing this, and I like more the back cover than the front cover. I even go as far as to read all that copyrights page that gives information about the book, when it was published, etc. When I saw Ocean Vuong’s photo on the back flap I thought he must be 13 years old. He looks like a naughty, slightly criminal thirteen year old who smokes and skips school and doesn't shower. Make a long story short: this friend’s friend asked for book reviews but to be honest I haven’t read the book. I’ve read most of it though. Usually with poetry books, as I think I mentioned before, I don’t get what they are about. From what I’ve read from the Night Sky so far, this is the case here too, the only difference is that sometimes some lines make so much sense that I don’t care that I’m getting old.

About the reviewer

Josephine Peppers owns a pub and the souls of her three ex-husbands.