Delight

The Book of Delight is at its core an attempt to observe and record everyday delights in order to examine and analyze the concept and draw conclusions about its nature. Ross Gay defines his interpretation of delight in Chapter 14 as follows: “de-light suggests both ‘of light’ and ‘without light.’” (44). This etymology, created by Ross, establishes the concept of positive delights, which is the traditional definition of the term, and negative delights that are more about moments of darkness. This definition gives Ross the freedom to explore a broader range of topics in this book than span the traditionally delightful, such as acts of kindness, and the sorrowful, such as racism and death. This broader range of topics also gives the author the opportunity to discuss the relationships between positive and negative delights. For example, he discusses how the joining of sorrows can be a source of joy: “What...