The Book of (More) Delights

Essays

By: Ross Gay

Narrated by: Ross Gay

From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet, a book of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us.

Ross Gay’s essays have been called “exquisite” (Tracy K. Smith), “imperative” (the New York Times Book Review), and “brilliant” (Ada Limón). Now, in this new collection of genre-defying pieces, again written over the course of a year, one of America’s most original voices continues his ongoing investigation of delight.

For Gay, what delights us is what connects us, what gives us meaning, from the joy of hearing a nostalgic song blasting from a passing car to the pleasure of refusing the “ubiquitous, nefarious” scannable QR code menus, from the tiny dog he fell hard for to his mother baking a dozen kinds of cookies for her grandchildren.

As always, Gay revels in the natural world—sweet potatoes being harvested, a hummingbird carousing in the beebalm, a sunflower growing out of a wall around the cemetery, the shared bounty from a neighbor’s fig tree—and the trillion mysterious ways this glorious earth delights us.

For his many fans eagerly awaiting this new volume and for readers who have enjoyed the works of Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Zadie Smith, and Rebecca Solnit, Gay once again offers us “literature that feels as fluent and familiar as a chat with a close friend” (the New York Review of Books). The Book of (More) Delights is a collection to savor and share.

Critic reviews

"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, not just from his garden but from paper menus and pawpaws to the unexpected adoration of a small dog."​—Garden & Gun

My Favorite Author

This book was truly a delight - I never thought I would have a favorite author because I’m not a heavy reader but I can say with confidence I have one now. Thank you Mr. Gay.

I’ll read anything by Ross. Anytime Any Day

I saw that this book had 5 stars and so I wanted to come on and add mine too. I get up every morning on my way to teach high school art and listen to Ross Gay whether it’s his first delights book or Inciting Joy. I’m excited to get into his poetry and other essays. He’s got a wonderfully positive perspective and also has thought provoking commentary on so many topics that have been helpful for me to give more consideration as a teacher and as a person. I could go on for many paragraphs about how these books have helped me orient my thinking to that of delight instead of negativity, but I’ll just leave it at this. Definitely listen to anything by Ross Gay.

always love Ross Gay’s work

Another book that just reminds me to be alive and thankful for it… love this exploration of delights and the honesty of the work

Delights and gratitude

I love his humor and sensitive and astute observations. The only thing I wish for is more more more!

Delights revisited

Loved this book, as I do all of Ross Gay’s works! Thank you,
Professor Gay, for writing it so eloquently and for reading it with the honor and finesse and joy it deserves!