michaelion's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, Animal death, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Racism
coldinaugust's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't like it halfway through, but I kept thinking that since it's an anthology, I'd find a gem or two. Not really. But then again, I'm not really a fan of the editor's poetry, either. And I most certainly don't "get" this prose poem thing. Um...isn't that just prose?
b_p's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, I would give this collection a B average (technically an 86.2% 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.
Billy Collins is (probably) the best-known living poet in the United States. By that, I mean that even people who don't read poetry at all may have heard of him at some point in their general education classrooms at American high schools (I for one have used at least two of his poems in my classroom so far). I consider Collins to be a grand example of what more poetry should be: allusive, yet accessible; intelligent, yet warm; sincere, but equally humorous. Unsurprisingly, Collins' voice is reflected through his selections for this edition of BAP.
On a personal note, I read this book over the period of a month or so. Usually, it takes me about a week and a half to plow through and critique a BAP. I bring this up so that I can remember the toll that a two-week poetry drought (I was distracted with filmmaking and other cinematic interests over my spring break this year, leaving little time to devote to poetry) takes on my poetic senses. My unusually staggered experience reading this particular edition is a reminder a valuable reminder that poetry reading is a skill that must be religiously practiced in order to truly enrich life.
Masterpieces (11)
John Ashbery, A Worldly Country
Stephen Dobyns, Toward Some Bright Moment
Mark Halliday, Refusal to Notice Beautiful Women
Terrance Hayes, Talk
Reb Livingston, That's Not Butter
Marilyn Nelson, Albert Hinckley
Richard Newman, Briefcase of Sorrow
Lawrence Raab, The Great Poem
Kay Ryan, Thin
Charles Simic, House of Cards
Terence Winch, Sex Elegy
Masterful (11)
Kim Addonizio, Verities
Gaylord Brewer, Apologia to the Blue Tit
Amy Gerstler, For My Niece Sidney, Age Six
Eamon Grennan, The Curve
Daniel Gutstein, Monsieur Pierre est mort
Bob Hicok, My career as a director
Jennifer L. Knox, The Laws of Probability in Levittown
Ron Koertge, Found
Thomas Lux, Eyes Scooped Out and Replaced by Hot Coals
Robert Wrigley, Religion
Dean Young, Clam Ode
Masters Candidates (7)
Krista Benjamin, Letter from My Ancestors
Denise Duhamel, Please Don't Sit Like a Frog, Sit Like a Queen
Robert Hass, The Problem of Describing Color
Mary Oliver, The Poet with His Face in His Hands
Liz Rosenberg, The Other Woman's Point of View
J. Allyn Rosser, Discounting Lynn
Vejay Sheshadri, Memoir
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend 38.6% of the poems in this volume.
Billy Collins is (probably) the best-known living poet in the United States. By that, I mean that even people who don't read poetry at all may have heard of him at some point in their general education classrooms at American high schools (I for one have used at least two of his poems in my classroom so far). I consider Collins to be a grand example of what more poetry should be: allusive, yet accessible; intelligent, yet warm; sincere, but equally humorous. Unsurprisingly, Collins' voice is reflected through his selections for this edition of BAP.
On a personal note, I read this book over the period of a month or so. Usually, it takes me about a week and a half to plow through and critique a BAP. I bring this up so that I can remember the toll that a two-week poetry drought (I was distracted with filmmaking and other cinematic interests over my spring break this year, leaving little time to devote to poetry) takes on my poetic senses. My unusually staggered experience reading this particular edition is a reminder a valuable reminder that poetry reading is a skill that must be religiously practiced in order to truly enrich life.
Masterpieces (11)
John Ashbery, A Worldly Country
Stephen Dobyns, Toward Some Bright Moment
Mark Halliday, Refusal to Notice Beautiful Women
Terrance Hayes, Talk
Reb Livingston, That's Not Butter
Marilyn Nelson, Albert Hinckley
Richard Newman, Briefcase of Sorrow
Lawrence Raab, The Great Poem
Kay Ryan, Thin
Charles Simic, House of Cards
Terence Winch, Sex Elegy
Masterful (11)
Kim Addonizio, Verities
Gaylord Brewer, Apologia to the Blue Tit
Amy Gerstler, For My Niece Sidney, Age Six
Eamon Grennan, The Curve
Daniel Gutstein, Monsieur Pierre est mort
Bob Hicok, My career as a director
Jennifer L. Knox, The Laws of Probability in Levittown
Ron Koertge, Found
Thomas Lux, Eyes Scooped Out and Replaced by Hot Coals
Robert Wrigley, Religion
Dean Young, Clam Ode
Masters Candidates (7)
Krista Benjamin, Letter from My Ancestors
Denise Duhamel, Please Don't Sit Like a Frog, Sit Like a Queen
Robert Hass, The Problem of Describing Color
Mary Oliver, The Poet with His Face in His Hands
Liz Rosenberg, The Other Woman's Point of View
J. Allyn Rosser, Discounting Lynn
Vejay Sheshadri, Memoir
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend 38.6% of the poems in this volume.
pattydsf's review
4.0
In the fall of 2010, I went with my mom to the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark, New Jersey. Attending this festival had been a dream of mine for years and I was pleased that my mom was willing to attend it with me. It was especially gratifying that she had a good time.
I have been a poetry reader for years. I had met Nikki Giovanni in high school and fell in love with her poetry. That meeting helped me to realize that authors are real people and that poetry might be more accessible than my English classes had made me think.
Over the years I had adopted some favorite poems and poets. Attending the Dodge Festival made me want to read some new poets and I decided that the Best American Poetry series was one way to encounter new authors and poems. I had no particular reason for starting with the volume from 2006 except it was cheap and you would have to be dead (in my opinion) not to have heard of Billy Collins.
For me this was a good volume to start with. I found poems by Kay Ryan and Bob Hicok - both of whom I had heard in Newark. There is a poem by Mary Oliver, another famous contemporary poet. (I hope that isn't an oxymoron). Also I liked the poems by Amy Gerstler, Mark Halliday and Dean Young among others.
My only complaint was the introduction by Billy Collins. I have a friend who detests Billy Collins' poetry and although I would not say I detest Collins, I did not like his words about the state of poetry in 2005. Collins was doing the anthology and so he has the right to speak his mind, but I felt he was unduly harsh.
However, Collins made me think about what he had to say about poetry and that is what I like about poems. The poems I like take me somewhere (which Collins also likes) and they make me think.
One way or another, in spite of Billy Collins or because of him, I appreciated this volume of poetry. I will dip into it again and again and I would recommend that you do the same. If not with this anthology then with another. As Edward Hirsch says, "This poem has come from a great distance to find you." All of poetry is looking for a reader - you should try being the reader.
I have been a poetry reader for years. I had met Nikki Giovanni in high school and fell in love with her poetry. That meeting helped me to realize that authors are real people and that poetry might be more accessible than my English classes had made me think.
Over the years I had adopted some favorite poems and poets. Attending the Dodge Festival made me want to read some new poets and I decided that the Best American Poetry series was one way to encounter new authors and poems. I had no particular reason for starting with the volume from 2006 except it was cheap and you would have to be dead (in my opinion) not to have heard of Billy Collins.
For me this was a good volume to start with. I found poems by Kay Ryan and Bob Hicok - both of whom I had heard in Newark. There is a poem by Mary Oliver, another famous contemporary poet. (I hope that isn't an oxymoron). Also I liked the poems by Amy Gerstler, Mark Halliday and Dean Young among others.
My only complaint was the introduction by Billy Collins. I have a friend who detests Billy Collins' poetry and although I would not say I detest Collins, I did not like his words about the state of poetry in 2005. Collins was doing the anthology and so he has the right to speak his mind, but I felt he was unduly harsh.
However, Collins made me think about what he had to say about poetry and that is what I like about poems. The poems I like take me somewhere (which Collins also likes) and they make me think.
One way or another, in spite of Billy Collins or because of him, I appreciated this volume of poetry. I will dip into it again and again and I would recommend that you do the same. If not with this anthology then with another. As Edward Hirsch says, "This poem has come from a great distance to find you." All of poetry is looking for a reader - you should try being the reader.
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