The Book of Delights: Essays

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 View Less