The Book of Delights

By Ross Gay ,

Book cover of The Book of Delights: Essays

Book description

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
As Heard on NPR's This American Life
'The delights he extols here (music, laughter, generosity, poetry, lots of nature) are bulwarks against casual cruelties . . . contagious in their joy' New York Times

The winner of the NBCC Award for Poetry offers up a…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked The Book of Delights as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In these turbulent and often-dour times, Ross Gay’s book is in my medicine cabinet. Primarily a poet, Gay takes up a daily practice of finding delight and recording it, developing what he calls a “delight muscle.” I think of delight as awe’s less flamboyant cousin: not flashy, but definitely related.

I love these short, spirited, funny, loose-limbed essays in which Gay shares discovered delights, often many more than one per essay, from the praying mantis on an abandoned pint glass at a café to the tomato seedling carried onto a plane, from the hard-to-break habit of annoyance to the surprisingly…

From Colleen's list on books that fill me with awe.

This collection of short essays chronicles daily delights for a year. A much-needed reminder that we need to seek out and notice small moments of delight, even when they aren’t obvious. I’ll be reading this one again.

Sometimes you read a book that creates a seismic shift in how you view the world—The Book of Delights is that book.

Ross Gay shines light on wonderful little things in a poetic, deep, and introspective way that doesn't sidestep the fact that life is hard and ugly sometimes. Since reading this book, I’ve found myself noticing delightful things on a daily basis—a much-needed grounding practice when you’re feeling devastated by the state of the world.

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Book cover of The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution, and Social Change

The Beatles and the 1960s by Kenneth L. Campbell,

The Beatles are widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history and their career has been the subject of many biographies. Yet the band's historical significance has not received sustained academic treatment to date. In The Beatles and the 1960s, Kenneth L. Campbell uses The…

In Ross Gay’s linked essay collection, The Book of Delights, the desire to record joyous observations, and to examine the complexities and “underbellies” of such quotidian moments—becomes, as the book progresses, an act of political commentary, and unexpected engagement of social justice. The essay, “Bird Feeding,” shows Gay obsessively watching a man feed a pigeon until their bodies—that of the man and that of the bird—seem to fuse together. “How often do you get to see someone slow dancing with a pigeon!” Gay exclaims, revealing the often-hidden tenderness that can exist between human beings and wild birds.   

If you love The Book of Delights...

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Book cover of The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution, and Social Change

The Beatles and the 1960s by Kenneth L. Campbell,

The Beatles are widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history and their career has been the subject of many biographies. Yet the band's historical significance has not received sustained academic treatment to date. In The Beatles and the 1960s, Kenneth L. Campbell uses The…

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