A review by b_p
The Best American Poetry 2006 by David Lehman, Billy Collins
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.