★ 09/18/2023
Poet Gay once again engages in a daily “delight practice” in the enchanting encore to The Book of Delights. In 81 brief essays, Gay turns his perpetually wonder-struck eye on the people and places around him, constructing an elaborate ode to the art of close attention. For example, in “The Lady in the Tree,” he spins a trip to the laundromat into a hallucinatory romp; in “Dream Dancing,” he falls into a synergistic dance with young people in a park; and in “One Million Kisses,” he overcomes his reservations about small dogs by caring for his mother-in-law’s “pipsqueak pup.” Through it all, Gay’s lyrical, stream-of-consciousness style—which always remains on the right side of saccharine (“Before you go there,” he addresses the reader, “I’m not being optimistic. I’m just paying attention”)—lends potentially mundane subject matter, such as stopping for lunch on a road trip or observing neighborhood garden gnomes, a shimmering, near-magical quality. These unforgettable vignettes will enhance readers’ appreciation for their own surroundings. Agent: Liza Dawson, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Sept.)
"Yes, please. I'll have another dose of delight."—Margaret Roach, The New York Times
"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."—Garden & Gun
"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.'"—Booklist
“Keenly observed and delivered with deftness, these essays are a testament to the artfulness of attention and everyday joy.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Gay's work never sugar coats the difficulties or fragility of life, but it is still so hopeful.” —Wild Geese Bookshop—USA Today
"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."—Travel & Leisure
"Contains many delightful, ordinary joys."—The Presbyterian Outlook
“Enormously delightful. Gay is a master at amplifying the delights all around us”—Literary Hub
“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”—TIME.com
“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”—TheRoot.com
“Enchanting… These unforgettable vignettes will enhance readers’ appreciation for their own surroundings.” —Publishers Weekly
"A lovely book continuing his celebration of the everyday delights! Staff recommended! Highly! Happily!"—My Edmund News
★ 2023-05-27
In this follow-up toThe Book of Delights, the esteemed poet catalogs more quiet pleasures and causes for gratitude.
Gay adheres to the same guidelines he followed in the previous volume: “write them daily, write them quickly, and write them by hand.” The first piece, of 81, opens, “Well, here we are again: this time, my forty-seventh birthday,” and describes a “bounty of delights” that he and his partner, Stephanie, have found in a rented Vermont cabin—e.g., the “forageable bounty” of apples. The following entry pays tribute to his friend Walt on his birthday: “I have needed to be—we need to be—believed in. Which, in a certain kind of way, is like being birthed. And just like his gummy bears and hockey sticks, I guess I’m taking Walt’s birthday. Because when Walt was born, so too was I.” The author offers steadfast company in his optimistic, accessible vignettes and insights about easily overlooked quotidian life. The essays are short, roughly three pages, and it’s a credit to Gay’s tone that he can captivate readers while writing about, for instance, “three truly beautiful spoons,” the pleasure of petting his cat, his annual garlic planting (“garlic’s your tiny professor of faith, your pungent don of gratitude”) and, in a separate piece, garlic harvesting. His sense of wonder at watching an NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring El DeBarge leads him to this reflection on an Aretha Franklin cover: “She lets it be known, this is for the benefit of you who don’t believe.” Gay closes with an essay sharing the same name as the first, “My Birthday, Again,” in which the author writes, “I’ve completed another year of delights. Or maybe I should say another year of delights has completed me.”
Keenly observed and delivered with deftness, these essays are a testament to the artfulness of attention and everyday joy.
Ross Gay's second book of "essayettes" celebrating delight is as joyful, buoyant, utterly life-affirming, and wonderfully meandering as his first one. Over a year, he writes about the delight he finds in cats, trading fruit, trees, remembering his father, a woman talking to passersby on her porch and the many other residents of Bloomington, Indiana, poetry, teachers, kissing small dogs, and a whole lot more. His narration is warm and conversational and absolutely overflowing with gratitude. These praise songs come alive in his easy poet's voice, often tinged with a smile or a laugh, full of curiosity, agile, and inviting. Gay's earnest love of the world is not merely welcome--it is vital. This short audiobook is a triumph. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Ross Gay's second book of "essayettes" celebrating delight is as joyful, buoyant, utterly life-affirming, and wonderfully meandering as his first one. Over a year, he writes about the delight he finds in cats, trading fruit, trees, remembering his father, a woman talking to passersby on her porch and the many other residents of Bloomington, Indiana, poetry, teachers, kissing small dogs, and a whole lot more. His narration is warm and conversational and absolutely overflowing with gratitude. These praise songs come alive in his easy poet's voice, often tinged with a smile or a laugh, full of curiosity, agile, and inviting. Gay's earnest love of the world is not merely welcome--it is vital. This short audiobook is a triumph. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
