Ross gays book of delights

You’ve probably heard of—or even kept—a Gratitude Journal. But poet Ross Gay came up with a new twist on this idea when he decided to keep a Delight Journal. The rules he set were that he would write daily for one year about something that delighted him, he would begin and verb on his birthday (August 1), the entries would be drafted quickly, and they would be written by hand. The result of this venture is the bestselling The Book of Delights (), a collection of “essayettes” about the many things that delight him— including hummingbirds, paw paw groves, laundromats, roller skates, self-forgiveness, Botan rice candy, nicknames, sidewalk naps, and dreams—especially waking up from terrible ones. This manual is the Jefferson Madison Regional Library (JMRL)’s Same Page Community Read selection for It will be discussed at the Crozet Library Monday Night Guide Group on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m.

Gay will present in person at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center on March 25 as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book. An associate professor of poetry at Indiana University,

Ross Gay’s ‘The Noun of (More) Delights’ couldn’t be more delightful

They always declare to never determine a book by its cover, but that isn’t the case for Ross Gay’s recently published ‘The Book of (More) Delights,’ which proves itself wholly delightful. In this sequel to his previously celebrated labor, ‘The Book of Delights,’ Gay has literally written “more” about delight. All the while, he has created an experience of “more”-ness for readers: a growth of life as we comprehend it and a celebration of experiences that enlarge it.

Gay’s work is a reminder of all things tiny and beautiful, small but miraculous, ordinary yet magical. Over the course of 81 mini-essays — what Gay refers to as “essayettes” — he describes the appreciation of glee and the minuscule miracles that cause it, inspiring the same feeling within his audience.

The book’s precursor, ‘The Publication of Delights’ was a winner of the National Manual Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Published in , the book begins with an essay centered around Gay’s 42nd birthday — “My Birthday, Kinda,” — in which he promises to record

Air Date: Week of March 8,
Ross Gay’s The Noun of (More) Delights highlights the pleasure one can locate in everyday life and in the natural world. (Photo: Courtesy of Ross Gay and Algonquin Books)
Poet and essayist Ross Gay is back with a follow up to his Book of Delights, loaded with moments of fine that sprout amid our troubles. He joins Host Steve Curwood to distribute readings from his new Book of (More) Delights celebrating simple joys such as clothes on a clothesline, garlic sprouting, and dandelion abundance.

Transcript

BELTRAN: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Paloma Beltran.

CURWOOD: And I’m Steve Curwood.

Living on this land can be a challenge these days. Plenty of crises from the climate to geopolitics can make you perceive blue. But poet and essayist Ross Gay keeps creating antidotes to brighten you up. A few years ago he compiled The Book of Delights, loaded with moments of good that sprout amid our troubles. And now after the pandemic he’s back with The Book of (More) Delights with even more scrumptious moments to savor on our complicated planet. H

The Book of Delights Quotes

“I guess I could consume time theorizing how it is that people are not bad to each other, but that’s really not the point. The gesture is that in almost every instance of our lives, our social lives, we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking. Holding expose doors. Offering elbows at crosswalks. Letting someone else depart first. Helping with the heavy bags. Reaching what’s too high, or what’s been dropped. Pulling someone back to their feet. Stopping at the vehicle wreck, at the struck dog. The alternating merge, also known as the zipper. This caretaking is our default mode and it’s always a deception that convinces us to act or believe otherwise. Always.”
&#; Ross Gay, The Guide of Delights: Essays

“It didn’t get me long to learn that the discipline or rehearse of writing these essays occasioned a kind of delight radar. Or maybe it was more like the development of a delight muscle. Something that implies that the more you explore delight, the more delight there is to study.”
&#; Ross