On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Character Analysis

Little Dog

Rose’s son, Lan’s grandson, Trevor’s friend and lover, and the narrator of On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous. The novel consists of Little Dog’s letter to Rose, in which he recounts their… read analysis of Little Dog

Ma/Rose

Little Dog’s mother, Lan’s daughter, and Mai’s sister. On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter written by Little Dog to Rose, in which he pieces their lives together with his memories… read analysis of Ma/Rose

Trevor

Buford’s grandson and Little Dog’s friend and lover. Trevor lives with his father in a trailer behind the interstate in Hartford, and he meets Little Dog when he begins working on Buford’s tobacco… read analysis of Trevor

Lan

Little Dog’s grandmother, Rose and Mai’s mother, and Paul’s ex-wife. Lan is born in the Go Cong District of Vietnam, and after leaving an arranged marriage in the late 1960s, she moves… read analysis of Lan

Paul

Lan’s ex-husband, Mai’s father, and Little Dog’s grandfather. Paul is a white American from Virginia who plays the trumpet and aspires to be a “white Miles Davis.” When his father rips up… read analysis of Paul

Rose’s Client

A customer in the nail salon where Rose works as a manicurist. Rose’s client is about 70 years old, and she comes to Rose looking for a pedicure. Before the woman puts her feet into… read analysis of Rose’s Client

Gramoz

An Albanian boy at Little Dog’s elementary school, whose family immigrated to the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union. Gramoz is friendly, and he offers Little Dog a pizza bagel during… read analysis of Gramoz

Carl

Mai’s abusive boyfriend. Rose piles Little Dog and Lan into the car in the middle of the night when Little Dog is just a boy and drives to Carl and Mai’s house. Carl has… read analysis of Carl

Mai

Rose’s sister, Lan and Paul’s daughter, and Little Dog’s aunt. Mai immigrates to the United States from Vietnam with her family, but she soon moves in with Carl, her abusive boyfriend… read analysis of Mai

Kyle

Marsha’s son and Kevin’s brother. Kyle is a student at Little Dog’s school when Little Dog first moves to America, and Kyle bullies Little Dog and pushes him around because he is… read analysis of Kyle

Trevor’s Father

Buford’s son. Trevor’s father is an abusive alcoholic, and Trevor has a small scar on his neck in the shape of a comma from where his father shot him with a nail gun. Trevor… read analysis of Trevor’s Father

Marsha

A woman in Little Dog’s Hartford neighborhood who goes door-to-door petitioning for stop signs to be put up in the area. Marsha has two sons, Kyle and Kevin, and she wants them to… read analysis of Marsha

Marin

A transgender woman who lives in Little Dog’s neighborhood when he is a young boy in Connecticut. Marin walks to work every day in high heels, even as the neighborhood men call her a… read analysis of Marin

Kevin

Marsha’s son and Kyle’s brother. Kevin and Kyle live with their mother in Little Dog’s neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut, and like his brother, Kevin overdoses on drugs and dies near the end… read analysis of Kevin

Xavier

Little Dog’s classmate in Hartford, Connecticut. Xavier is killed when he flips his Nissan while high on fentanyl; he is one of five of Little Dog’s peers to die because of opioid drug abuse… read analysis of Xavier

Minor Characters

Mrs. Callahan

Little Dog’s ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher when he is a boy in Hartford, Connecticut. Mrs. Callahan teaches Little Dog to read, which sparks in him a lifelong love of language, words, and stories.

Mr. Buford

Trevor’s grandfather and the owner of the tobacco farm where Little Dog gets his first job.