"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 Beautiful" is one of the most moving and entertaining books I've ever read."-Alan ShapiroDavid 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 indifferenceto any hope for an afterlife yet feared I might start shoutingfor 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.