Inciting Joy: Essays

Name: Inciting Joy: Essays
Price: 1.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.4 (283 reviews)
Author: Ross Gay

by Ross Gay

Nonfiction Memoir

4.4 (283)

4.4 stars from 283 reviews

256 pages~4.3 hr readPublished by Hodder & StoughtonPublished 2022-01-01

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Last checked: Jul 10, 2026

Price history: $2.99 – $19.95

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Perfect for you if...

You're drawn to essays that feel like conversations with someone genuinely wise, who doesn't pretend hardship and hope are mutually exclusive.
You've felt a shift in how you see the world through small acts of care and want language that names that shift.
You're exhausted by divisiveness and looking for writing that points toward what we're building rather than what we're tearing down.

Maybe not for you if...

You prefer narrative-driven memoirs where the author's personal story is the main event rather than a launching point for bigger ideas.
You want practical how-to advice or step-by-step solutions; Gay's essays are meditative and exploratory, not prescriptive.
You're looking for polished academic theory; this is deeply personal philosophy written with a poet's attention to language and contradiction.

About this book

Inciting Joy is a collection of essays by Ross Gay that examines joy as it emerges from human connection. Through carefully written pieces, Gay considers how caring for one another—particularly during difficult times—creates joy and explores ways to recognize and expand that connection. The essays address injustice, political polarization, and environmental destruction while considering how the study of joy might foster solidarity and aid survival. Gay asks what becomes possible when attention turns toward shared values and what people love, offering an alternative to divisive discourse. The book won the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Memoir/Nonfiction and was named a best book of 2022 by the Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, Salon.com, and the San Francisco Chronicle. It was also selected as a best audiobook of 2022 by BookPage.

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$2.99 – $19.95

Currently on sale at $1.99 — 90% off peak. Price has dropped 11 times over the last 4 years. Goes on sale roughly every 149 days.

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Currently around #44K in the Kindle store — a steady mid-list seller. Sales have softened 46% recently.

Rating & Reviews

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Currently 4.4★ from 283 reviews

Gaining approximately 5 new reviews per month. Rating has remained stable at 4.5 over the tracking period.

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This book is currently discounted at $1.99. It typically returns to around $19.95.

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