The Book of (More) Delights
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The author of the New York Times bestselling The Book of Delights is back with a new record...
The author of the New York Times bestselling The Book of Delights is back with a new record of small wonders—and it is exactly the book we need right now.
In this second intimate collection of short, lyrical, genre-defying essays, again written daily over a year, one of America’s most original and observant voices celebrates the ordinary, helping us see our extraordinary world anew. Among Ross Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: bonding with a pipsqueak of a puppy, observing how his mother bakes eighteen kinds of cookies before her grandchildren arrive, noticing the tenderness he feels when he sees an adult wearing braces, and the recognition that for him the preamble is often more delightful than the thing itself: “Putting on your socks and tying up your shoes, and, if you’re the type, filling up your water bottle and doing some light stretching, but skipping the walk entirely.”
For Gay, practicing delight is an act of defiance in an often unjust world, as necessary as breathing. Even as he acknowledges racism, consumerism, ecological devastation, and our individual sorrows—he shows us that the un-delights make the delights even more so. As always, Gay revels in natural world—a hummingbird carousing in the beebalm, the garlic that grows abundantly in his garden (along with collards and kale leaves and purple osaka mustards, pineapple sage, sweet potatoes, etc.), a field of sunflowers turning toward the sun, the shared bounty from a neighbor’s fig tree—and the trillion mysterious ways this glorious earth delights us.
Published By Algonquin Books
Format Hardback
Category
Number Of Pages 304
Publication Date 09/19/2023
ISBN 9781643753096
Dimensions 5.4 inches x 7.35 inches
"By popular demand, Ross Gay is back, better than ever . . . This time he swings his basket higher, slower, for a whole new bevy of brainy and witty noticings."
Named a Best/Most Anticipated Book of Fall/2023 by TIME.com, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Book Riot, Christian Science Monitor, & more!
“Books to Read When You Have the Seasonal Sniffles” by Boston Globe
"Yes, please. I'll have another dose of delight."
“[Gay] rejoices in the fleeting pleasures of everyday life. …heartfelt… [He] calls on us to marvel at nature’s small wonders and remember that we’re all connected.”
"Another startling, sensuous collection of miniature essays... again and again, joy wins out over despair as Gay pays tribute to a world of people "'bumbling, flailing, hurting, failing, changing.'"
“Keenly observed and delivered with deftness, these essays are a testament to the artfulness of attention and everyday joy.”
“Gay's work never sugar coats the difficulties or fragility of life, but it is still so hopeful.” —Wild Geese Bookshop
“Gay proves that he’s able to endlessly expand on any minute detail of life in a way that’s not only interesting, but that’s often profound, open-ended, and sometimes even revelatory. It’s clear that these 'delights' are a gift not only for the author himself but also for every one of the readers he touches.”
“Ross Gay, and I will praise him forever, is a beautiful writer who reminds us of the beauty in small, everyday things.”
"A feel-good book... [it] expertly whisks readers away to simpler times. The book’s happy, worry-free vibes make it the ultimate vacation read, no matter the time of year."
“His delightful observations of everyday life are a reminder that joy is all around us, we just have to be willing to look for it”
“His delightful observations of everyday life are a reminder that joy is all around us, we just have to be willing to look for it”
“Ross Gay’s ‘delight practice’ turns out to be exactly what I need to cope with this whole being-a-human-in-2024 thing… A gloriously unpredictable compendium of observations and celebrations of a life lived with full attention.”
"Savor every morsel of language in this catalog of daily joys."
“Ross Gay follows up his 2019 bestseller, The Book of Delights, with another collection of charming essays as quirky, engaging, and wryly humorous as the first. These reflections on what makes life meaningful offer a provocative episodic read.”
“Enormously delightful. Gay is a master at amplifying the delights all around us”
“Enchanting… These unforgettable vignettes will enhance readers’ appreciation for their own surroundings.”
"This trilogy of titles help us understand each other, the world, and our place in it."
“A refreshing reminder that joy surrounds us everywhere”
"A lovely book continuing his celebration of the everyday delights! Staff recommended! Highly! Happily!"
“Gay’s work is a reminder of all things tiny and beautiful, small but miraculous, ordinary yet magical. Read The Book of (More) Delights. It will grant you some gorgeous silence.”
“Heartening. Informal yet inspired, off-the-cuff yet beautifully composed… The Book of (More) Delights provides abundant avenues to appreciate our world.”
“Beautifully written and a balm for our times."
"Short essays with wonderfully playful writing that made me feel understood while also providing a new way to see the world. ...simultaneously unique and relatable... Something to keep stashed away for when you need a quick pick-me-up."
“Ross Gay’s latest collection of essays The Book of (More) Delights is a dose of joy, perfect for dark winter months.”
“This tour of delights is itself a delight.”
“[Gay] is wry but hopeful, which feels so necessary in our current age.”
“A magical portal into the whimsical, the profound, and the utterly delightful facets of life. Gay’s prose is like a symphony… Prepare to be enchanted, uplifted, and ultimately transformed.”
“In brief, rapturous notes about quotidian delights and essays on the sources and complexities of joy, he suggests an ethics of pleasure, attention, noticing, and human connection that resists the forces that seek to repress and delimit our birthright to live fully.”
“In The Book of (More) Delights, poet-essayist-mensch Ross Gay riffs on wonder and what René Descartes didn’t get quite right."
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