Book description
Every year since 1988 a major poet has selected seventy-five poems for
publication in The Best American Poetry. The series has quickly grown in
both sales and prestige, as poetry itself has seen a remarkable
resurgence in popularity and vitality, fueled by established poets at
the peak of their powers and a new generation of daring voices. As we
approach the millennium, now is the opportune moment to take stock of
american poetry and choose the work that will stand the test of time.
Harold Bloom, a commanding presence on the American literary state, has
read all 750 poems in the series and has picked the "best of the
best." He precedes his selections with a compelling and highly
provocative essay on the state of American letters, in which he fiercely
champions the endangered realm of the aesthetic over the politically
correct. Diverse in style, method, and metaphor, the seventy-five poems
Bloom has chosen go a long way toward defining a contemporary canon of
American poetry. This exciting volume reflects not only the taste of the
current editor, but the predilections of the all-star list of poets who
have contributed their time and intellect to make this series what is
today: a "valuable, invaluable, supervaluable"
(Beloit Poetry Journal)
record of an ever-changing, always exciting art. Publishers Weekly
This yearly compendium is not to be missed. David Lehman
, who founded The Best American Poetry
series in 1988, is the editor of The Oxford Book of American Poetry
and the author of seven books of poetry, including When a Woman
Loves a Man.
He teaches in the graduate writing program at the New School and lives
in New York City and in Ithaca, New York.
