Shoot the Alligators Closest to the Boat

Book excerpt: "Stolte shows us his favorite parts of hell with calm enthusiasm. His love affair with perdition cools with distance from the inferno, but still proves eternal. There is humor and humility in this complex (but not convoluted) collection of street-kid war stories and dope sick love letters. It reads like a lullaby for the damned." --Ezhno Martín, founding editor EMP Books "Nathanael William Stolte always has room for you in his heart. It's warm and metaphysical in there, so be sure to bring your slippers and a flask. Stolte is the everyday-man's man, writing of a simple and humble life. He is often brave enough to call people out on their shit (including his own), writing, "Being wrong is a universal human condition." His short pieces land like grenades and his longer pieces spin tales of the intricacies of aging, the nature of perspective, and lessons necessary for becoming a better person. Wherever Stolte may be, I am confident that he is experiencing and writing about that place in its most beautifully authentic form. Like the city, this collection is dirty and tough, mysterious and sentimental. Stolte characterizes his collection well when he writes, "It's cold / my feet are wet & / I wouldn't change a thing." " --Linzi Garcia, author of Thank You "Some poets are born of the fire that makes the world in all of its beautiful doom, Stolte is one of those poets - let him sing." --RA Washington, author of BLACK Eunuch