Delightg Ross Gay, One Essay at a Time | Nile Rudick | The New York Review of Books

ross gay book of delights review

I put off begng the poet Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, which was published earlier this year, bee I was aaid would end too quickly. I felt sure that the book’s 102 says, most between one paragraph and three pag length, would be k to his poems, which are tenr, tactile, and human, whether he's celebratg the spastic joy of listeng to a good song or articulatg a swellg fury. Gay wrote the book's says over the perd of a year, one each day, for the simple reason that he thought would be nice to wre about light every day. The handful of l he set out for himself clud posg the says quickly and wrg them by hand. I cid to read one entry om the book each day, to follow the mol of how he’d wrten them and to give each entry s own space to unfold my md—to let warm me, I’d e to realize, like sunshe.

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HOW ROSS GAY FDS JOY IN THE SMALLT OF 'DELIGHTS'

On the Co Swch podst, Ross Gay reflects on his 2019 llectn The Book of Delights, the difficulty of allowg yourself to be moved, and why he thks 's important to e the word "love." * ross gay book of delights review *

Today, we're stg down wh the wrer Ross Gay.

So many thgs light Ross Gay: handma fy srv and loerg, the joy of rryg a heavy bag between two people, paw paws and even weeds. This summer, I reread yet aga and found myself medatg on a sire Gay had voiced: wantg to be softer a world so ready to sharpen and to make hard.

So, a recent terview, I talked to Gay about that sire, as well as the role of joy daily life, the difficulty of allowg yourself to be moved, and why he thks 's important to e the word "love. Ross Gay spent a year wrg daily says about thgs that light him. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks wh Gay about some of the says clud his new book, The Book of Delights.

ENRE: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

Ross Gay spent a year wrg daily says about thgs that light him. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks wh Gay about some of the says clud his new book, The Book of Delights. * ross gay book of delights review *

The wrer Ross Gay spent a year dog that. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)ROSS GAY: Well, one of the thgs that I realized is that - the begng, I thought, oh, man. GAY: Absolutely.

GAY: Totally.

GAY: Yeah, totally. GAY: Yeah. GAY: Often.

ROSS GAY

The Book of Delights: Ross Gay is known for his poetry, but "The Book of Delights" prov that he’s also an apt sayist. In posg the book, Gay operated unr a simple prciple: keep a diary of entri over the urse of one year, wh each entry ncerng... * ross gay book of delights review *

GAY: I thk I sort of felt like this is somethg that I'll be dog one way or another for the rt of my life. GAY: Well, not ntug - necsarily ntug to wre the says. SHAPIRO: Ross Gay's new llectn of says is lled "The Book Of Delights.

DELIGHTG ROSS GAY, ONE ESSAY AT A TIME

by Vivian Wagner One ol, April day, seven years almost to the day after my father’s suici, I sat outsi a ffee shop readg Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights. As cherry blossom petals fell around me and onto the pag of the book, I me across this passage one of s says, “‘Joy… * ross gay book of delights review *

SHAPIRO: That's the wrer Ross Gay a nversatn that we first aired Febary of 2019. Ross Gay.

Ross Gay is known for his poetry, but The Book of Delights prov that he’s also an apt sayist.

In posg the book, Gay operated unr a simple prciple: keep a diary of entri over the urse of one year, wh each entry ncerng somethg joyful. Certa topics n throughout The Book of Delights, cludg Gay’s love of garng, the emotnal impact of his favore songs, and his appreciatn for beg the moment. A Lisa Loeb song leads to a memory about a childhood iend who vad Gay’s hoe to rearrange his furnure an elaborate prank.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ROSS GAY BOOK OF DELIGHTS REVIEW

Delightg Ross Gay, One Essay at a Time | Nile Rudick | The New York Review of Books.

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