The relationship between language and culture has become an intriguing topic for years in translation studies. In order to bridge the gap between original-text authors and target-text readers, translators have adopted a wide range of methods, of which adding glosses is an important method. Glosses have long been important and widely used in translation, especially of literary works. In this study, I attempt to describe the use of glosses both qualitatively and quantitatively, and explore possible reasons for the use of glosses in a popular fiction Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The research categorizes the common methods of translating the culture-specific terms with glosses into different types, illustrates each type with examples from our sample, and pinpoints some key factors that lead the translator to use glosses. By observing the data, my paper further states the main functions in literary texts and its important role in contributing in literary translation. The strengths and drawbacks of using glosses are also discussed in relation to the translation of this literary work.