Hell, I Love Everybody: The Essential James Tate - Poems

An essential collection of James Tate’s extraordinary poems that will captivate today’s readers, with a foreword by Terrance Hayes

Celebrating James Tate’s work as it transcends convention, time, and everything that tells us, “No, you can’t do that,” Hell, I Love Everybody gives us the poet at his best, his most intimate, hopeful, inventive, and brilliant. John Ashbery called Tate the “poet of possibilities,” and this collection records forays into possibilities for American poetry’s future. With a foreword by Terrance Hayes, it is sure to give readers new and old a lasting collection of favorites.

What happens when a dog is promoted to a human, a trip to the candy store becomes a lesson in metaphysics, and an alien visitor just wants to meet a real cowboy?

Absurdist Humor: Discover a world where Popes are chosen at 7-Eleven, a goat is named the Prince of Peace, and the rules of a candy store defy all logic. Deadpan Voice: A calm, matter-of-fact narrator guides you through the most bizarre situations, from finding a nearly transparent extraterrestrial in his kitchen to being mistaken for a dog in a past life. Modern Fables: Meet characters who find themselves in surreal predicaments—a lost pilot in a compulsive orbit, a painter of the night, and blue antelopes that can make you disappear. Unexpected Tenderness: Beneath the wild invention and comedy, find moments of profound intimacy, where a blue booby’s nest or a simple statement like "Hell, I love everybody" reveals a deep and open heart.