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  • The Book of Delights: Essays

    (By Ross Gay)

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    Author Ross Gay
    “Book Descriptions: Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book of essays—some as short as a paragraph; some as long as five pages—that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: the way Botan Rice Candy wrappers melt in your mouth, the volunteer crossing guard with a pronounced tremor whom he imagines as a kind of boat-woman escorting pedestrians across the River Styx, a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, pickup basketball games, the silent nod of acknowledgment between black people. And more than any other subject, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms, the trees.

    This is not a book of how-to or inspiration, though it could be read that way. Fans of Roxane Gay, Maggie Nelson, and Kiese Laymon will revel in Gay’s voice, and his insights. The Book of Delights is about our connection to the world, to each other, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. Gay’s pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight. 

    Preface
    1. My Birthday, Kinda
    2. Inefficiency
    3. Flower in the Curb
    4. Blowing It Off
    5. Hole in the Head
    6. Remission Still
    7. Praying Mantis
    8. The Negreeting
    9. The High-Five from Strangers, Etc
    10. Writing by Hand
    11. Transplanting
    12. Nicknames
    13. But, Maybe ..
    14. "Joy Is Such a Human Madness
    15. House Party
    16. Hummingbird
    17. Just a Dream
    18. "That's Some Bambi Shit" ..
    19. The Irrepressible: The Gratitudes
    20. Tap Tap
    21. Coffee without the Saucer
    22. Lily on the Pants
    23. Sharing a Bag 24. Umbrella in the Café
    25. Beast Mode
    26. Airplane Rituals
    27. Weirdly Untitled
    28. Pecans
    29. The Do-Over
    30. Infinity
    31. Ghost
    32. Nota Bene
    33. "Love Me in a Special Way"
    34. "Stay," by Lisa Loeb
    35. Stacking Delights
    36. Donny Hathaway on Pandora
    37. "To Spread the Sweetness of Love"
    38. Baby, Baby, Baby
    39. "REPENT OR BURN"
    40. Giving My Body to the Cause
    41. Among the Rewards of My Sloth . .
    42. Not Grumpy Cat
    43. Some Stupid Shit
    44. Not Only . .
    45. Microgentrification: WE BUY GOLD
    46. Reading Palms
    47. The Sanctity of Trains
    48. Bird Feeding
    49. Kombucha in a Mid-century Glass
    50. Hickories
    51. Annoyed No More
    52. Toto
    53. Church Poets
    54. Public Lying Down
    55. Babies. Seriously
    56. "My Life, My Life, My Life, My Life in the Sunshine
    57. Incorporation
    58. Botan Rice Candy
    59. Understory
    60. "Joy Is Such a Human Madness": The Duff Between Us
    61. "It's Just the Day I'm Having" ..
    62. The Purple Cornets of Spring
    63. The Volunteer
    64. Fishing an Eyelash: Two or Three Cents on the Virtues of the Poetry Reading
    65. Found Things
    66. Found Things (2)
    67. Cuplicking
    68. Bobblehead
    69. The Jenky 70. The Crow's Ablutions
    71. Flowers in the Hands of Statues
    72. An Abundance of Public Toilets
    73. The Wave of Unfamiliars
    74. Not for Nothing
    75. Bindweed ... Delight?
    76. Dickhead
    77. Ambiguous Signage Sometimes
    78. Heart to Heart
    79. Caution: Bees on Bridge
    80. Tomato on Board
    81. Purple-Handed
    82. Name: Kayte Young; Phone Number: 555-867-5309
    83. Still Processing
    84. Fireflies
    85. My Scythe Jack
    86. Pawpaw Grove
    87. Loitering
    88. Touched
    89. Scat
    90. Get Thee to the Nutrient Cycle!
    91. Pulling Carrots
    92. Filling the Frame
    93. Reckless Air Quotes 94. Judith Irene Gay, Aged Seventy-six Today!
    95. Rothko Backboard
    96. The Marfa Lights
    97. The Carport
    98. My Garden (Book):
    99. Black Bumblebees!
    100. Grown
    101. Coco-baby
    102. My Birthday”

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