Pleasures of Ignorance

In an age that worships expertise, Robert Lynd offers a radical proposition: there is genuine pleasure in not knowing. This collection of luminous essays meditates on the small wonders we overlook precisely because we think we understand them. With the gentle wit of the Irish essayist tradition, Lynd turns his attention to cats, insects, beans, and a dozen other humble subjects, revealing in each the infinite curiosity that ignorance can nourish. He argues beautifully for the value of wondering, of approaching the familiar as if for the first time, of finding magic in what bores the specialist. These are essays that slow you down, that make you see the world with fresh eyes. They are for anyone who has ever watched a cat with genuine bafflement and found joy in that bafflement, who has lain in grass and wondered at the sky instead of consulting a weather app.