The Temple Gate Called Beautiful

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 96 pages
• Published by: Alice James Books April 1, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1882295676
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1882295678
• Book Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Weighs: 4 ounces

Product Description


"David Kirby is a master conversationalist, a witty and deep feeling thinker, part Mel Brooks, part Virgil, dazzling in his range of tone and reference, in his surprising, often zany, yet always satisfying turns from observation to rumination, from elegy to comedy. The Temple Gate Called gorgeous is one of the most moving and entertaining books I've ever read."-Alan Shapiro

David Kirby's hilarious, poignant ninth collection of poetry opens with Elvis as Virgil guiding us through the afterlife, imagines where the dead go when they die, what they wear when they get there, and whether Heaven or Hell throws a better party.

From "Hello, I Must Be Going":

. . . when it was time for her to go, she didn't grumble;
she just left. And I, who shared her indifference
to any hope for an afterlife yet feared I might start shouting
for a confessor when my own time comes, I said to myself,
yes, that's it, that's what you do. I said to myself,
this is the real knowledge: that there's no knowledge.

David Kirby is the author of nine previous poetry collections, most recently The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems, as well as a book of essays. Kirby's work appears regularly in the Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize anthologies. Married to the poet Barbara Hamby, he lives in Tallahassee and teaches at Florida State University.

About The Author
David Kirby teaches at Florida State University and is the author of eight previous collections of poetry, including; 'The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems', as well as a collection of essays. Kirby is a recipient of an NEA Grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his work appears regularly in the Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize anthologies.

Reader Reviews
Not just prose chopped into lines, but funny too. Kirby's mind ranges from connection to connection to shape incidents into funny stories. Helps if you know most of the same cultural references he does, but that's true of the Young Turks too. Kirby is always good company, and this book is a bit deeper than some of his first. Comment | | (Report this)