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The Book of Delights

Essays

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The Book of Delights

By: Ross Gay
Narrated by: Ross Gay
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Summary

The winner of the NBCC Award for Poetry offers up a spirited collection of short lyric essays, written daily over a tumultuous year, reminding us of the purpose and pleasure of praising, extolling, and celebrating ordinary wonders. 

Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying collection 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.

©2019 Ross Gay (P)2018 Recorded Books African American Studies Americas Essays Social Sciences Specific Demographics United States Nonfiction
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The world feels hard right now. But this book is a soft, funny and delicious reminder to be present. He talks about a “delight radar”, and reading this book activated mine at every turn. An invitation and a sacred deliberation.

An antidote to dread

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Definitely worth enjoying on audiobook rather than physical book so you can delight in Ross Gay's lovely voice.

This book is a delight

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I really enjoyed listening to Ross Gay’s observations and reflections. He didn’t shy away from earthy and visceral topics, he didn’t shy away from suffering and wrongs. Nevertheless, I found it “delightful”. I could visualise what he was describing and it often made me smile and laugh. I feel like I had a glimpse into someone else’s inner life and I felt connected to them. I also noticed as I read that I found myself noticing my own simple delights. Thank you Ross Gay that was wonderful.

It soothed and sang

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.