Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book 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. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: the way Botan Rice Candy wrappers melt in your mouth, the volunteer crossing guard with a pronounced tremor whom he imagines as a kind of boat-woman escorting pedestrians across the River Styx, a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, pickup basketball games, the silent nod of acknowledgment between black people. And more than any other subject, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms, the trees. This is not a book of how-to or inspiration, though it could be read that way. Fans of Roxane Gay, Maggie Nelson, and Kiese Laymon will revel in Gay’s voice, and his insights. The Book of Delights is about our connection to the world, to each other, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. Gay’s pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight. Preface

1. My Birthday, Kinda
2. Inefficiency
3. Flower in the Curb
4. Blowing It Off
5. Hole in the Head
6. Remission Still
7. Praying Mantis
8. The Negreeting
9. The High-Five from Strangers, Etc
10. Writing by Hand
11. Transplanting
12. Nicknames
13. But, Maybe ..
14. "Joy Is Such a Human Madness
15. House Party
16. Hummingbird
17. Just a Dream
18. "That's Some Bambi Shit" ..
19. The Irrepressible: The Gratitudes
20. Tap Tap
21. Coffee without the Saucer
22. Lily on the Pants
23. Sharing a Bag 24. Umbrella in the Café
24. Beast Mode
25. Airplane Rituals
26. Weirdly Untitled
27. Pecans
28. The Do-Over
29. Infinity
30. Ghost
31. Nota Bene
32. "Love Me in a Special Way"
33. "Stay," by Lisa Loeb
34. Stacking Delights
35. Donny Hathaway on Pandora
36. "To Spread the Sweetness of Love"
37. Baby, Baby, Baby
38. "REPENT OR BURN"
39. Giving My Body to the Cause
40. Among the Rewards of My Sloth . .
41. Not Grumpy Cat
42. Some Stupid Shit
43. Not Only . .
44. Microgentrification: WE BUY GOLD
45. Reading Palms
46. The Sanctity of Trains
47. Bird Feeding
48. Kombucha in a Mid-century Glass
49. Hickories
50. Annoyed No More
51. Toto
52. Church Poets
53. Public Lying Down
54. Babies. Seriously
55. "My Life, My Life, My Life, My Life in the Sunshine
56. Incorporation
57. Botan Rice Candy
58. Understory
59. "Joy Is Such a Human Madness": The Duff Between Us
60. "It's Just the Day I'm Having" ..
61. The Purple Cornets of Spring
62. The Volunteer
63. Fishing an Eyelash: Two or Three Cents on the Virtues of the Poetry Reading
64. Found Things
65. Found Things (2)
66. Cuplicking
67. Bobblehead
68. The Jenky 70. The Crow's Ablutions
69. Flowers in the Hands of Statues
70. An Abundance of Public Toilets
71. The Wave of Unfamiliars
72. Not for Nothing
73. Bindweed ... Delight?
74. Dickhead
75. Ambiguous Signage Sometimes
76. Heart to Heart
77. Caution: Bees on Bridge
78. Tomato on Board
79. Purple-Handed
80. Name: Kayte Young; Phone Number: 555-867-5309
81. Still Processing
82. Fireflies
83. My Scythe Jack
84. Pawpaw Grove
85. Loitering
86. Touched
87. Scat
88. Get Thee to the Nutrient Cycle!
89. Pulling Carrots
90. Filling the Frame
91. Reckless Air Quotes 94. Judith Irene Gay, Aged Seventy-six Today!
92. Rothko Backboard
93. The Marfa Lights
94. The Carport
95. My Garden (Book):
96. Black Bumblebees!
97. Grown
98. Coco-baby
99. My Birthday