James Parker's book deserves an ode all its own--one that, like the odes it brings together, is apt, quirky, form-breaking, tradition-furthering, and celebratory all at once.--Paul Elie, author of Reinventing Bach

Note to readers! This book has two parts. The first is the book itself, the one you read, as James Parker's prose grips on your receptors: here is a seriocomic essayist of the first order, enthusiastic and nervous, spiritual and salty, excited by the very idea of a wide frame of reference, totally on. The second part happens after you've finished, as life seems like a series of further odes waiting to happen, and more inviting because of it.--Ben Ratliff, author of Every Song Ever and Coltrane: The Story of a Sound

Parker's dazzlingly erudite mind has found ways to appreciate everything from Proust to dog waste, and somehow make it funny. It's a book as edu-taining as it is inspirational, and his mastery of language ripples easy like Sunday morning. Parker is, in short, brilliant.--Cintra Wilson, author of Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling American Style

James Parker loves the English language like a farmer loves the soil, but then he's a lover of the world by nature. Here he counts his blessings, from Pablo Neruda to his dog's balls, and each of his entries is a small, beautifully shaped rapture. This book should be kept at bedside for all those rude awakenings and sodden sleeps.--Lucy Sante, author of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York

Parker offers some loose advice for living (give money to panhandlers whole-heartedly, because doing so means participating in 'the same divine economy that big-banged you into being'), but is at his best when poring over life's strange resonances...pays vivid homage to the beauty of the mundane.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Parker is articulate and provocative, seeing the poetry in the ordinary and the wonderful in the world.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2024-06-18

Length: 288 pages