Enre: Ross Gay Wr 'The Book Of Delights' : NPR

Contents:

• HOW ROSS GAY FDS JOY IN THE SMALLT OF 'DELIGHTS'
• ENRE: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'
• ROSS GAY
• DISCSN GUI AND FURTHER READG FOR ROSS GAY'S THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS, EVERYBODY READS 2021
• THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS BY ROSS GAY SELECTED FOR EVERYBODY READS 2021
• NICKNAM, FIREFLI AND RECKLS AIR QUOT: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

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

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'

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

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.

DISCSN GUI AND FURTHER READG FOR ROSS GAY'S THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS, EVERYBODY READS 2021

SHAPIRO: That's the wrer Ross Gay a nversatn that we first aired Febary of 2019. 95) / Number of pag 288 / Publitn date Febary 12, 2019 / ISBN 9781616207922Purchase: Algonqu / IndieBound / Bookshop / Powell'sFrom the Publisher: The New York Tim btsellg book of says celebratg ordary lights the world around by one of Ameri's most origal and observant wrers, award-wng poet Ross Gay. The first nonfictn book om award-wng poet Ross Gay is a rerd of the small joys we often overlook our by liv.

THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS BY ROSS GAY SELECTED FOR EVERYBODY READS 2021

Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophil lights: a iend’s unabashed e of air quot, cradlg a tomato seedlg aboard an airplane, the silent nod of acknowledgment between the only two black people a room.

But Gay never dismiss the plexi, even the terrors, of livg Ameri as a black man or the elogil and psychic vlence of our nsumer culture or the loss of those he lov.

NICKNAM, FIREFLI AND RECKLS AIR QUOT: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

More than anythg else, though, Gay celebrat the bety of the natural world–his garn, the flowers peekg out of the siwalk, the hypnotic movements of a prayg mantis. The remarkable piec serve as a powerful and necsary remr that we n, and should, stake out a space our liv for & Reviews“Ross Gay’s eye lands upon wonr at every turn, bolsterg my belief the untls small miracl that surround . Gay, an award-wng poet, knows the value of formal nstrat: his experienc of ‘light, ’ rerd daily for a year, vary wily but yield revealg patterns through sights about everythg om nature and the body to race and masculy.

’” —The New Yorker“Ross Gay’s poems are ltle celebratns of joy, and this book of mi-says—each centerg around a particular 'light, ’ om sleepg your cloth to plantg tomato seedlgs to the nod of greetg between the only two black people a room—is a pure balm for your soul.

” —Celte Ng for “You’ll fd that the lights of Gay’s world illumate the lights of yours, that his wonr is ntag and has ed you to epen your own.