b_p's review
3.0
Overall, I would give this collection a B average (technically an 85.6% avg.) as far as the quality of the poems contained. I know that attempting to quantify poetic effect/value is a ridiculous gesture, but I am simply a ridiculous person. Of course, this is purely based off of my own tastes and will not necessarily reflect your average satisfaction rate. I started a mission in October of 2016 to read the entire Best American Poetry series so that I can begin to get a better sense of (A) what my taste in poetry is, and (B) my own poetic voice.
This volume was a massive improvement from the 2004 edition I had read before this. Obviously, this is more than likely an indicator that Mr. Komunyakaa and I have similar tastes in poetry; it must walk the line between pleasurable reading and intellectual challenges with grace. This was evident from a telling moment in his introduction: "[...] any experimentation not in service of meaning is anti-poetry." While I am not entirely on board with this quote, I think that it expresses the general taste for modern poetry quite accurately. I am not the kind of pretentious reader who will accuse a poet who actually sells more than a dozen books like Billy Collins of being overrated or "taking up air" in a BAP collection, but I am also not the reader who does not want to be assigned extra reading by a poem that actually makes it worthwhile to dig into its obscure allusions. In any case, I recommend this volume, perhaps as a starter for readers who want to crack into the alternatingly frustrating/confounding and rewarding/beautiful world of the Best America Poetry series.
Masterpieces (8)
Wendell Berry, Some Further Words
Billy Collins, Litany
Stuart Dybek, Journal
Charles Fort, The Vagrant Hours
Michael Goldman, Report on Human Beings
Mark Halliday, The Opaque
Galway Kinnell, When the Towers Fell
Natasha Trethewey, After Your Death
Masterful (9)
Edward Hirsch, The Desire Manuscripts
Tony Hoagland, Summer Night
Joy Katz, Some Rain
Kenneth Koch, Proverb
Kevin Prufer, What the Paymaster Said
Maura Stanton, Translating
James Tate, The Restaurant Business
Ronald Wallace, In a Rut
Terence Winch, My Work
Masters Candidates (11)
Frank Bidart, Curse
James Galvin, Ponderosa
Amy Gerstler, An Offer Received in This Morning's Mail
Ray Gonzalez, Max Jacob's Shoes
Brigit Pegeen Kelly, The Dragon
Jennifer L. Knox, Love Blooms at Chimsbury After the War
Ishle Yi Park, Queen Min Bi
William Tremblay, The Lost Boy
Richard Wilbur, Man Running
David Wojahn, Scrabble with Matthews
Anna Ziegler, After the Opening, 1932
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 37% of the poems contained in this volume.
This volume was a massive improvement from the 2004 edition I had read before this. Obviously, this is more than likely an indicator that Mr. Komunyakaa and I have similar tastes in poetry; it must walk the line between pleasurable reading and intellectual challenges with grace. This was evident from a telling moment in his introduction: "[...] any experimentation not in service of meaning is anti-poetry." While I am not entirely on board with this quote, I think that it expresses the general taste for modern poetry quite accurately. I am not the kind of pretentious reader who will accuse a poet who actually sells more than a dozen books like Billy Collins of being overrated or "taking up air" in a BAP collection, but I am also not the reader who does not want to be assigned extra reading by a poem that actually makes it worthwhile to dig into its obscure allusions. In any case, I recommend this volume, perhaps as a starter for readers who want to crack into the alternatingly frustrating/confounding and rewarding/beautiful world of the Best America Poetry series.
Masterpieces (8)
Wendell Berry, Some Further Words
Billy Collins, Litany
Stuart Dybek, Journal
Charles Fort, The Vagrant Hours
Michael Goldman, Report on Human Beings
Mark Halliday, The Opaque
Galway Kinnell, When the Towers Fell
Natasha Trethewey, After Your Death
Masterful (9)
Edward Hirsch, The Desire Manuscripts
Tony Hoagland, Summer Night
Joy Katz, Some Rain
Kenneth Koch, Proverb
Kevin Prufer, What the Paymaster Said
Maura Stanton, Translating
James Tate, The Restaurant Business
Ronald Wallace, In a Rut
Terence Winch, My Work
Masters Candidates (11)
Frank Bidart, Curse
James Galvin, Ponderosa
Amy Gerstler, An Offer Received in This Morning's Mail
Ray Gonzalez, Max Jacob's Shoes
Brigit Pegeen Kelly, The Dragon
Jennifer L. Knox, Love Blooms at Chimsbury After the War
Ishle Yi Park, Queen Min Bi
William Tremblay, The Lost Boy
Richard Wilbur, Man Running
David Wojahn, Scrabble with Matthews
Anna Ziegler, After the Opening, 1932
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 37% of the poems contained in this volume.
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