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.
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.
Contents
The First Incitement
Through My Tears I Saw
(Death: The Second Incitement)
We Kin
(The Garden: The Third Incitement)
Out of Time
(Time: The Fourth Incitement)
Share Your Bucket!
(Skateboarding: The Fifth Incitement)
Baby, This Might Be You
(Laughter: The Sixth Incitement)
(Dis)alientation Machinery
(Losing Your Phone: The Seventh Incitement)
Free Fruit for All!
(The Orchard: The Eight Incitement)
Insurgent Hoop
(Pickup Basketball: The Ninth Incitement)
How Big the Boat
(The Cover: The Tenth Incitement)
Dispatch from the Ruins
(School: The Eleventh Incitement)
Went Free
(Dancing: The Twelfth Incitement)
Grief Suite
(Falling Apart: The Thirteenth Incitement)
Oh, My Heart
(Gratitude: The Fourteenth Incitement)
Acknowledgments
“Stunning…Gay’s curiosity is present on every page and his precise yet playful prose sparkles…This resonant, vivid meditation shouldn’t be missed.” - Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Warm, candid … breezy and soulful… A pleasingly digressive and intimate memoir in essays." - Kirkus Reviews
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