The Book of Delights: Essays

On his forty-second birthday, poet Ross Gay decided to write essayettes about things that delighted him. He made a few "rules" for himself: to write every day (or almost), and write it longhand, for one year. The result is this book.

As one might expect, such a book ranges far and wide through Gay's observations and stream of consciousness style of writing. In the midst of delight are also some serious observations about race, how time has become a commodity, and the challenges his parents had when they married, a Black man and a white woman. There are also moments of joy with friends, loving the quirkiness of living, and working in his garden. I enjoyed reading this so much that I reached that almost painful place of wanting to keep show more reading but also wanting to slow down, pause, and draw out the experience just a little longer. His style of writing meant that while I loved some sentences and observations on their own, it depended so much on the phrase or sentence before and after that I couldn't pick out just one sentence (or handful) to write or quote - I would've just rewritten the whole mini essay. They're each only a paragraph to a few pages long at the most, so it's easy to sit down and just read a few at a time, fitting it in during lunch breaks or reading just a bit before bed. It's inspired me to notice what delights me as well - not least of which is this book. show less

I’ve been reading this one slowly, just an essay or two a day, for months. It’s perfect in small bites. The author’s poetic musings on small things that delight him make his joy infectious. He doesn’t shy away from hard topics, like the racism he’s experienced, but he is equally effusive about gardening, or an unexpected connection.

“There’s an entomological connection between thinking and thanking.”

“The laughing snort: among the most emphatic evidences of delight.”

Poet Ross Gay set himself a project of writing an essay each day for a year about a delight he had experienced that day. The Book of Delights is a collection of some of those essays. And it is just wonderful. The topics range from simple pleasures to heavy subjects, but there truly is always delight in each one. Listening to Gay read the book was a joy, and I suspect I will both listen to this again and find myself a hard copy for flipping through and rereading. Recommended.

Communication is often fraught with misunderstanding. Sometimes it is disastrous, and sometimes hilarious. Ross Gay relates the story of going through an airport security check and chatting with the man patting him down. “I told him I was going to read poems in Syracuse,” Ross writes, noting the quizzical look on the man’s face. The man said his mother took him to have his poems read once. “I never believed in it myself,” the man concluded. As Gay left he heard the man tell a coworker, “that guy’s being flown to Syracuse to read palms!”

What a delight to read. It lifted my spirits.

Ross Gay committed to writing an essay a day, a book of delights about the day’s experiences, the people he encountered, the insights he show more gleaned. The loveliness of getting a high-five from a stranger, a waitress who puts her hand on his shoulder. Mistaking a man on a plane for his late great-uncle. The joy and terror of being a parent. The brevity of life. The pleasure of remembering one’s dreams. The awareness that each of us lives with some profound sorrow, yet that is also a kind of joy.

The biracial Gay grew up in Levittown, PA, a planned, segregated, community. (For three years in the early 70s I lived up the pike from that community and had visited its homes.) Some days relate darker stories of racism.

He talks about music and how a song can transport you back in time. (His song was by DeBarge, a group I was not familiar with, but discovered the mother of the group was from Royal Oak, MI, where I lived during my teenage years! That was a delight.)

The best way to read this book is day by day, allowing you to enjoy each essay.

The book is now available in paperback .

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. show less

Ross Gay set out to write an essay-ette every day for a year, chronicling all the small delights that he encounters in his regular and ordinary life. From nicknames to bumble bees to peeing his pants (a weird delight to be sure, more of a confession) to travelling on planes and encountering babies. Ross Gay can find delight in the most mundane or bizarre things. Sometimes the delight stems from a fear or an uncertainty. Lyrical, comical, and profound - this little book of essays is not what I pictured it to be, but still a delight to be sure.

Ross Gay took a year to chronicle the small joys in his life, and it is, well, delightful. While he doesn‘t shy away from those things in this world that are definitely not good, among those he finds countless delights that made me smile and laugh and look for the good around me. He narrates the audio, and his narration makes it even better.

I took my sweet time with this one, and doing so has been a balm over the last several months. Savoring each essayette allowed me to attune myself to delight too, giving me a lens through which to view my days. Sometimes I took several days or weeks between reading one, then other times I'd read four or five at a time. I so appreciate Ross Gay's grace, wit, and delight (there is no better word or equal synonym).

I'll read this again and again, and that is a delight too.