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Rating:  - A wonderful collection
I came across James Tate's poetry in an anthology of Prose Poems, and immediately fell in love with his style. That has spurred me on to get a representative collection of his writing, and by and large I have not been disappointed. This is a wonderful book, with some of the most imaginative use of images and language that I have come across. However, I believe that Tate's prose poems are superior to the rest of his writings, and would really like to read a collection of those. Overall, however, I do recommend this book to anyone interested in more modern poetry.
Rating:  - Hyperbole just isn't enough
James Tate is THE visionary poet of our age and this is his most comprehensive collection to date.
I have read, reread and read again every piece of Tate's writing I have been able to find since I was first exposed to Tate in a class I took with Rodney Jones (another excellent poet) nearly twenty years ago.
Little can compare with:
The Lost Pilot
Coming Down Cleveland Avenue
F@ck the Astronauts
...except the rest of this selected edition which often makes me forget even these masterpieces.
I have gone through 3 copies of this selected edition as I took a copy of it with me everywhere for years.
Rating: - Bukowski is Old and Tired and Sensationalistic
...and so to equate him w/ Tate is laughable. Your hexes won't work 'round these parts.
Rating:  - The Man stands on the shoulders of Bukowski
(How does he do it?)
(Open letter to James Tate, stalwart UMass prof. :
you won't get any toys this X-mas -- many months away --
because you've leeched off the writings of Ole Buk and this is
funny because you possess the vitality and soul of a
110-pound Alabama sharecropper.)
Rating: - LOVE IT!!
I had never even heard of James Tate until we began to study him in my 20th century literature class in college. Now I don't know how I had ever not been aware of this man. I love this book and his overall work. Some of my favorite poems from this collection are: The Pet Deer, Goodtime Jesus, and Neighbors. I was also lucky enough to have Tate come to my college last night and read some of his poems that have not yet been published. They are somewhat different from the ones in this book, but are also wonderful. He is an amazingly funny and talented man in real life, and his poetry and craft is some of the most impressive that I have ever read. Definately check it out!!
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