Great selections of an amazing poet and tremendous human with a voice that deftly blends absurdity and wisdom

WEDNESDAYS WITH DENISE: December 13, 2023

Earlier this year Ecco/Harper Collins published Hell, I Love Everybody: The Essential James Tate. For fans of Tate, the book is essential! As a fan myself, I even own Lucky Darryl (a novel Tate co-wrote with Bill Knott in 1997). Edited judiciously by Emily Pettit, Kate Lindroos, and Dara Barrois/Dixon, the book is whittled down to just 52 poems, their reasoning to make an “intimate book.” And it works! In the foreword, Terrance Hayes lists a delightful account of readers and how they found Tate’s work. And I feel compelled to add my own. As an undergraduate at Emerson College, I found a used copy of his book The Lost Pilot. The title poem is an elegy for Tate’s father—and looking at the birth and death dates made me queasy. I myself was 22 when I first read this poem. Tate’s father, a co-pilot of a fighter B-17, was killed in World War II when Tate was just a baby. I loved the title poem so much—a child creating a father he never knew. Congratulations, editors! And rest in poetry, James Tate.

While all books are subjective in the view of individual readers, poetry, as a genre, seems more so than most. As with all art, you know if you like it or don't like it but may not necessarily be able to clearly express why.

I enjoy poetry for the change of pace it gives from fiction and nonfiction. I had never heard of James Tate before requesting to read and review this book. The Publisher Note explains to the reader that the digital form of Tate's poetry doesn't allow for the original intended look/placement of the lines on the physical page due to the need to split long lines at a point the poet had not intended. I have never encountered such concern about this before and wondered why it was of such importance. This further piqued my interest and curiosity before I reached the first poem.

The publisher's note is followed by a forward in which it appears that Tate was an iconic cult hero in his time. Next, an editor's note tells of the long and laborious process of deciding which of Tate's poems to include in the book with the accompanying angst of not wanting to offend anyone by their choices.

The overall buildup before the first poem was presented made me wonder what I was in for. So much build-up!

The individual offerings weren't what I expected, often more resembling a very short story than a typical poem which made me wonder anew about the concern of line placement. Some of the offerings I enjoyed very much, others not at all. A poem evokes a response, or it doesn't.

Overall, the book was just so-so for me, and I fail to see what the big deal is. In truth, I think the three notes prior to the work itself detract from the book rather than enhance the reader's experience.

My thanks to Ecco for permitting me to access a DRC of the book via NetGalley. Publication is set for 11/7/23. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

Poetry is an issue of taste, almost more so than literature or non-fiction. Do you like the poet? Do you even like poetry? Do you "get" poetry? Is there really anything to "get" from poetry? Are poets purposely obfuscating or abstracting their message? Or am I just not familiar with the references? Is there a message anyway? or maybe there is no message on purpose? Lots of questions, lots of possibilities.

I often see Tate being lumped in with today's social media driven obsession with flash-fiction or micro fiction. To me, and to Tate, his work is decidedly not that. I'm not even sure those things exist. What does length have to do with any of it? What is the artistic value of separating novel from novella? In my own writing, I often refer to my version of poetry as short pieces in order to avoid that discussion. If you're at all like me, and get turned off when literary discussions begin to creep up up their own backside, well, James Tate is for you. He is a poet who transcends all of that nonsense. He's sad and funny in equal measure, often in the same poem, sometimes even in the same line. His poetry provokes, forces you to think, and stretches out whatever preconceived notions you may have kicking around in your brain of what story or poetry are "supposed" to be. It is never a bad idea to read James Tate. He is a fantastic way for people to start getting into poetry, and a breath of fresh air for folks who may be mired in it professionally, academically, or otherwise. Some of my favorites by him are The Cowboy, The Rules (the one about the candy shop, there are two poems with this name), Pastoral Scene, and The Government Lake. Three of those four are included here, and given that many times "Essential" collections wind up ignoring or leaving out some of your favorite works, Ecco does a nice job with this one.

My only criticism comes from the absence of a true reference section in which the original homes of the individual poems would be listed. Otherwise, the preface serves a purpose utilizing the off-kilter tone of a Tate poem and lets you in a little as to who Tate the man was. Though it was funny to see David Berman referenced without a proper exploration as to why they occupy a similar world. I believe there is a good short interview out there somewhere you can find between Tate and the Silver Jews frontman. That might have been a nice inclusion. A more academic essay wouldn't have been out of place either, something that sort of situates Tate's work in the greater world of academia and/or poetry but it doesn't seem like that was the goal with this book. For someone just getting into Tate, or having had him just recommended to you, this one is a good place to start.

It was funny that a young, good looking version of Tate was used for the cover. I sort of just always imagined him as an old professor. Not to mention, of any poet, his work sort of supports the use of a more abstract or out-of-the-box image for the cover. I would have preferred that, honestly. But, like I said, it's just a matter of taste.

Day 19 of #TheSealeyChallenge 2023. Hell, I l Love Everybody by James Tate published by Ecco.

@SealeyChallenge @eccobooks #JamesTate

#thesealeychallenge2023 #sealeychallenge #poetry

“The subtextual pang you find in a Jim Tate line, a deadpan panic, creeps into the echoes.” Thanks to @netgalley for the sneak peak.

Some of my favorite moments:

I am trying to pry open your casket with this burning snowflake.

My family’s obviously done nothing since the beginning of time. They invented poverty and bad taste and getting by and taking it from the boss.

I was in a dream state and this was causing a problem with the traffic.

A book can move from room to room without anyone touching it.

The wind makes a salad of the countryside and he who is so hungry sits down but refuses to eat greens.

Some people go their whole lives without ever writing a single poem.

Some of the poems are really interesting, some are kind of absurd. Overall, the way the poems are written makes them easy to read. The poems were laid out on the page in a very interesting matter, given that a lot of the lines of poetry were very long. It didn't seem like very many of the poems rhymed. But the content was entertaining to read. They almost felt like short stories.