The Book of (More) Delights - by Ross Gay

About the Book

"A collection of essays in which the author discusses the small and large things that delight him"--

Book Synopsis

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.

In Ross Gay's new collection of small, daily wonders, 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 "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.

The Book of (More) Delights is a volume to savor and share.

Review Quotes

"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

"In The Book of (More) Delights, poet-essayist-mensch Ross Gay riffs on wonder and what René Descartes didn't get quite right." --Denver Post

"In brief, rapturous notes about quotidian delights and essays on the sources and complexities of joy, he suggests an ethics of pleasure, attention, noticing, and human connection that resists the forces that seek to repress and delimit our birthright to live fully."--CBC Radio

"A magical portal into the whimsical, the profound, and the utterly delightful facets of life. Gay's prose is like a symphony... Prepare to be enchanted, uplifted, and ultimately transformed."--Medium.com

"[Gay] is wry but hopeful, which feels so necessary in our current age."--Good Times Santa Cruz

"This tour of delights is itself a delight."--Boston Globe

Named a Best/Most Anticipated Book of Fall/2023 by TIME.com, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Book Riot, Christian Science Monitor, & more!

"Books to Read When You Have the Seasonal Sniffles" by Boston Globe

"Heartening. Informal yet inspired, off-the-cuff yet beautifully composed... The Book of (More) Delights provides abundant avenues to appreciate our world."--BookPage

"Ross Gay's 'delight practice' turns out to be exactly what I need to cope with this whole being-a-human-in-2024 thing... A gloriously unpredictable compendium of observations and celebrations of a life lived with full attention."--The Guardian

"Savor every morsel of language in this catalog of daily joys."--The Presbyterian Outlook

"By popular demand, 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

"Ross Gay's latest collection of essays The Book of (More) Delights is a dose of joy, perfect for dark winter months."​--Montclair Local

"Beautifully written and a balm for our times."--Toronto Star

"Short essays with wonderfully playful writing that made me feel understood while also providing a new way to see the world. ...simultaneously unique and relatable... Something to keep stashed away for when you need a quick pick-me-up."--St. Louis Public Radio

"[Gay] rejoices in the fleeting pleasures of everyday life. ...heartfelt... [He] calls on us to marvel at nature's small wonders and remember that we're all connected."--Washington Post

"Gay's work is a reminder of all things tiny and beautiful, small but miraculous, ordinary yet magical. Read The Book of (More) Delights. It will grant you some gorgeous silence."--Brown Daily Herald

"A refreshing reminder that joy surrounds us everywhere"--Bookreporter.com

"Gay proves that he's able to endlessly expand on any minute detail of life in a way that's not only interesting, but that's often profound, open-ended, and sometimes even revelatory. It's clear that these 'delights' are a gift not only for the author himself but also for every one of the readers he touches."--Shondaland

"Ross Gay follows up his 2019 bestseller, The Book of Delights, with another collection of charming essays as quirky, engaging, and wryly humorous as the first. These reflections on what makes life meaningful offer a provocative episodic read."--Christian Science Monitor

"Ross Gay, and I will praise him forever, is a beautiful writer who reminds us of the beauty in small, everyday things."--Ann Patchett, The Skimm

"This trilogy of titles help us understand each other, the world, and our place in it."--Barnes & Noble Reads

"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

"A lovely book continuing his celebration of the everyday delights! Staff recommended! Highly! Happily!"--My Edmund News

"Yes, please. I'll have another dose of delight."--Margaret Roach, The New York Times

"Enchanting... These unforgettable vignettes will enhance readers' appreciation for their own surroundings." --Publishers Weekly

"Gay's work never sugar coats the difficulties or fragility of life, but it is still so hopeful." --Wild Geese Bookshop--USA Today

"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

"Enormously delightful. Gay is a master at amplifying the delights all around us"--Literary Hub

"Keenly observed and delivered with deftness, these essays are a testament to the artfulness of attention and everyday joy."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Ross Gay is the New York Times bestselling author of the essay collections The Book of Delights and Inciting Joy and four books of poetry. His Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and in 2022 was named an NEA Big Read title; and Be Holding won the 2021 PEN America Jean Stein Book Award. Gay is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project and has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He teaches at Indiana University.