In Inciting Joy, Ross Gay suggests that finding common ground in our sorrows creates joy. That joy creates solidarity and love, and possibly, our future survival. Thus, these essays emphasize repeatedly our connection to everything and everyone around us in the present moment and our connection to both the past and future.

Rejecting the capitalistic notion of pervasive scarcity and ownership, Gay emphasizes community, gratitude, and sharing. He finds these in a community fruit orchard without locked gates, in a basketball court where everyone is a guest, in a university classroom where grades and learning objectives are set aside, and in cover songs that carry on through time without being owned by a given singer, among other places.

That said, Gay, the bestselling author of The Book of Delights and four volumes of poetry that received several prestigious awards, is at heart a poet, and these essays also clearly evidence his love of language, wordplay, and rhythm. Even his choice to refer to everyone by their first or nickname creates another subtle sense of our connectedness. In short, these essays offer a new, thought-provoking way to view our society and future.

Originally published on San Francisco Book Review.)