{"id":598,"date":"2026-05-15T09:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/?page_id=598"},"modified":"2026-06-02T12:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:04:18","slug":"about-the-book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/current-book\/about-the-book\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-450x636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"274\" class=\"wp-image-622 alignleft\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-450x636.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-724x1024.jpg 724w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-768x1086.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/Gay_IncitingJoy_HC_HR_rgb.jpg 1538w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>From the publisher:<\/em><span> In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life\u2019s inevitable hardships. Throughout <\/span><em>Inciting Joy<\/em><span>, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we expand it. In \u201cWe Kin\u201d he thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come on) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in \u201cShare Your Bucket\u201d he explores skateboarding\u2019s reclamation of public space; he considers the costs of masculinity in \u201cGrief Suite\u201d; and in \u201cThrough My Tears I Saw,\u201d he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying. In an era when divisive voices take up so much air space, <\/span><em>Inciting Joy<\/em><span> offers a vital alternative: What might be possible if we turn our attention to what brings us together, to what we love? Full of energy, curiosity, and compassion, <\/span><em>Inciting Joy<\/em><span> is essential reading from one of our most brilliant writers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rossgay.net\/inciting-joy\">Learn more here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Ross Gay<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-425x636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"364\" class=\"wp-image-617 alignleft\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-425x636.jpg 425w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-768x1150.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/files\/2026\/05\/RossGaycNatashaKomoda-1367x2048.jpg 1367w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Ross Gay is interested in joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Ross Gay wants to understand joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Ross Gay is curious about joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Ross Gay studies joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Something like that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">~<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large preFade fadeIn\">Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry:\u00a0<em>Against Which<\/em>;\u00a0<em>Bringing the Shovel Down<\/em>; <em>Be Holding<\/em>, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award;\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude<\/em>,\u00a0winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016\u00a0Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays\u2014<em>The Book of Delights<\/em> was released in 2019 and was a <em>New York Times<\/em> bestseller; <em>Inciting Joy<\/em> was released in 2022, and his newest collection, <em>The Book of (More) Delights,<\/em> was released in September of 2023. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rossgay.net\/\">Learn more about the author<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Images courtesy of the author<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the publisher: In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life\u2019s inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we expand it. In \u201cWe Kin\u201d he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3324,"featured_media":0,"parent":595,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/598\/revisions\/636"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/common-read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}