On Ross Gay’s website, the first four sentences of the “about” page read as follows: “Ross Gay is interested in joy. Ross Gay wants to understand joy. Ross Gay is curious about joy. Ross Gay studies joy” (Ross Gay). Gay is a self-proclaimed student of joy; many of his works reflect this study. Before releasing his poetry collection Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude in 2015, he was already writing lyric inquiries into how humans might better love one another. His poetry books Against Which (2006), Bringing the Shovel Down (2011), and Lace & Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens (2014, co-authored with Aimee Nezhukumatathil) all explore the concepts of love, community, hope, and growth. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude marks a shift in Gay’s writing and was the first of his works to intentionally focus on the ideas of joy, delight, and gratitude. He released The Book of Delights in 2019 and released another collection of essays, Inciting Joy, in 2022.

The Book of Delights is full of stories from Gay’s life, and he frequently reflects on his childhood as the second son of a white mother and Black father growing up in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He is a gardener, teacher, lecturer, son, brother, partner, and friend.