During the relatively few years of his public poetic career--from the small-press publication of Cages in 1966 to the appearance of Riven Doggeries (1979) as number eighteen in the prestigious American Poetry Series--James Tate has produced more than thirty books, chapbooks, and broadsides. Such an output is rather remarkable in itself, purely in terms of the volume of poetry and short prose involved. However, when the quality of much of this writing is considered, Tate's importance in contemporary poetry needs no defense. It is true, as his detractors might point out, that many of his volumes are small-press publications and that much of his material is reprinted from one volume to another. Like Robert Kelly, although to a lesser degree, Tate has avoided major publishing houses and national coverage in support of small presses and distribution by bookshops, thereby favoring a more broadly based, grass roots trend in publishing. In...