"[Vuong begins to cry]": The beginning of the end of Ocean Vuong

There is an effective conspiracy in literary media to keep things clean, to keep things friendly—growing publishing monopolies and networking-oriented MFA programs only work to further encourage this, and when “big names” in literary fiction are so scant these days, do you really want to alienate a guy who you could possibly solicit for a piece or interview that will make your traffic goal for the month overnight? But the fact that, in spite of the obvious moratorium on critical feedback, negative reviews are still passing through seems to suggest that the sheer will of this negativity is enormous. People fucking hate Ocean Vuong. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Or, as Vuong might put it, “oh, how a dynasty of bones falls like teeth from the mouth of the sky after it ate too much Halloween candy.”

A rather biting look at the recent critical backlash against Ocean Vuong, who seems to be at a tipping point as to whether he will continue his trajectory toward literary super-stardom or end up more of a flash in the pan.