As the years pass, it is much harder to find childlike joy in the mundane. Life makes too much sense. The wonder in our eyes has gone and left us with this jaded feeling. But does it have to stay this way? Ross Gay awakens his joy with his collection titled, The Book of Delights, […]
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I Hate Poetry, But I Like Podcasts
As one who listens to a plethora of podcasts weekly, I was more than willing to add the Poetry Unbound podcast to my list. Regardless of whether or not you’re an English scholar, I feel as though there are two common approaches to poetry. On one hand, there is the romanticist who wants to find […]
If an Annoying Person is Alone, Are They Still Annoying?
Our world, the “real” world, is full of all sorts of obstacles and hurdles that can make enjoying life a task in of itself. How then can one possibly find joy here? Well, Ross Gay shares the experience of taking the mundane, difficult, and forgettable moments of our days and changing them into something beautiful in their […]
Babies, Puppies, and Babbling
In Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, he includes a short essay on the joy of seeing a baby. While on a plane, he adorably describes how he spotted a toddler that “toddled” past him dressed in a pink onesie and a panda hood. Throughout the rest of this piece, which covers only two pages in […]
Filling Life With The Simplest Delights
In an attempt to not sound like every reader or writer that always loves to recommend every book that they think changed them or brought them joy, though I am also very guilty of this issue, Ross Gay’s Book of Delights is a wonderful read for those looking to connect the smallest parts of one’s day […]
The Delight of Delights
Ross Gay’s composition of essays, The Book of Delights highlights a very real human need to exist and find joy in the seemingly mundane that surrounds us. The delights offered throughout strike me as something that is extremely forgiving and an exercise to find ways of accountability and creativity. The challenge of creating a small […]
Reflections on Ross Gay’s Writing
From Ross Gay’s Book of Essays, The Book of Delights The Sanctity of Trains “The point is that in almost every instance of our lives, our social lives, we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking. Holding open doors. Offering elbows at crosswalks. Letting someone else […]
Ross Gay, Pink Floyd, and the Beauty of a Misunderstanding
I would not describe myself as Ross Gay’s #1 fan. I like short, easily-digestible essays as much as the next person, and his unique brand of optimism is undoubtedly infectious, but I find that his work too often focuses on only the joyful end of the emotional spectrum for it to be of deep interest […]