Inciting Joy: Essays (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781643753041)

From Ross Gay, the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Delights, comes an intimate and electrifying collection of essays about the joy that comes from connection. "BRILLIANT." --Ada Lim, U.S. poet laureate

In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prizewinning poet and author Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life's inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we can expand it.

In "We Kin," Gay thinks about the garden (es­pecially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come in) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in "Share Your Bucket," he explores skateboard­ing's reclamation of public spaces; he considers the costs of masculinity in "Grief Suite"; and in "Through My Tears I Saw," he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying.

In an era when divisive voices take up so much airspace, Inciting Joy offers a vital alternative: What might be possible if we turn our attention to what brings us together, to what we love?

Taking a clear-eyed look at injustice, political polarization, and the destruction of the natural world, Gay shows us how we might resist, how the study of joy might lead us to a wild, unpredictable, transgressive, and unboundaried solidarity. In fact, it just might help us survive.

"A gift that's meant to be shared . . . [This book] inspires us to look beyond the miseries of our era to envision a more welcoming future."―The Washington Post

Author: Ross Gay
ISBN-10: 1643753045
ISBN-13: 9781643753041
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Language: English
Published: 10/25/2022
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.60w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/18/2022
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2022
Booklist 09/01/2022 pg. 22
Library Journal 10/01/2022 pg. 141
Shelf Awareness 12/02/2022
BookPage 10/01/2022