Tate is consistency funny, twisting everyday rituals into bizarre dramas. Some of his imagery inhabits my dreams. ( )

This is a pleasantly beguiling book. Imagine Billy Collins's whimsical anecdotes refracted through Ashbery's world of constant verbally adroit disjunction. Tate uses a flexible, graceful line, a simple vocabulary, wondrous images, and a surrealism that constantly teeters on the edge of rationality. Often amusing, usually gentle, occasionally macabre, these are lovely poems, but I wonder if they add up to much more than their immediate surface appeal. I will be intrigued to come back to these poems later to find if they have grown or deepened in import. ( )

This title won the National Book Award. Tate's work is delightful. ( )