Customer Reviews

The BEST AMERICAN POETRY 1999

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you like Robert Bly, then you won't mind that he has chosen poems much like his style. If prose poems drive you to commit violent acts, then you should avoid most of this book. There is a variety of poems in quality, varying from trite, to excellent. It is a good starting place if you want to find new poets to read, but the poems represented may not be their best poetry.

I always enjoy reading volumes in this series. I even enjoyed reading Bloom's anthology, though I am fiery trajectory away from his strange reactionary stancecademic approach...

THIS volume, is subtle, a pleasant read...but alas, "safe." With some notable exceptions which I will not explicitly note here...the poems are warm milk before bed time, with a slightly pleasing taste of the fragrance of grass of this particular field, that particular pasture.

Safe is nice...and of course has a certain beauty.... With an anthology like those in this series however, I'd like a few showers of fish and frogs on my Spring morning walk...a few beautifully sharp briars scratching my shins...

This is simply the most superb installment in the series of Best American poetry anthologies. Robert Bly has chosen rich poems that are free of airs and stuffy language, cultivating the unmistakable flavor of American poetry. From newer names like the delightful Billy Collins to older legends such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Phil Levine and Robert Creely, The Best American Poetry of 1999 will have every reader finding something to love within its pages. All poetry lovers-particularly those who are tired of the so-called "language poets"-must give this book a try.

After Hollander's stilted, tiresome collection last year, Bly's choices are mostly a breath of fresh air. I'm never going to like all the poems in these books, but there's a truly appealing humanity to a lot of the work in this one, not surprising in a book edited by the author of "Counting Small-boned Bodies"...despite Bly's swerve into Iron Johnism of late, he's got pretty good taste.

I really enjoyed Robert Bly's introduction about 'the heat'. All genuine artists are aware of 'the heat' in some way or the other; Heat is what was to Ezra Pound his definition of 'image'. We can even trace 'the heat' back to the idea of catharsis in Aristotle's Poetics. The moments of knowing, human growth, liberation from certain limits are essential aspect of human being that is universal, and it is not confined by any gender or racial limits. This is particularly important because it removes oneself from the influence of multiculturalism and feminism which we hear so often. The anthology itself presents us with finest examples of 'the heat' by contemporary poets. Many thanks to Peggy Steele, Revan Schendler, Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and everyone else in the anthology for their excellent works. It is nice to know that I can still find good poetry, even though it may be few.

Bloom's scathing, right-on-the-mark intro to 1997's Best of the Best seems to have breathed new life into this series. John Hollander has followed in the footsteps of Bloom by choosing poems that represent a wide range of styles, talents, and persuasions, but share one thing- poetic excellence. Though I'd like to see more selections from smaller presses, I'm delighted to have a book of 1998 poetry that doesn't advance a political agenda or look beyond the poems themselves to find meaning and value. Craig Arnold's "Hot" is worth the cover pirce alone- a poem that resonates, haunts, and changes on every re-reading. Selections by Ammons, Bly, Ashbery, and Strand show these masters at their finest. Bloom revitalized this once-sleepy series last year, and Hollander follows with a selection of poems that is even better than the Best of the Best. If you fear that we have lost our poetic magic in the late 20th century, this book will give you cause to reconsider.

David Lehman's Forewords in The Best American Poetry books are especially fun to read if you have any interest in how poetry infuses our culture with creativity. The foreword in the 1999 anthology is no exception and is a rather scintillating read with numerous pop culture references and examples of how poetry appears in movies, TV shows and magazines.

Robert Bly's introduction is stunning and his poetry selections have a vibrancy, humor and depth that is rare in many poetry collections. His discussion about how we analyze poetry or meet the words soul to soul continues with stunning wisdom:

"So he or she who loves art and culture will honor all these Chambers of the Mind. But at the moment an artist is about to set down his or her poem, the wise artist will let them all go, bless them with gratitude and rejection, until nothing is left but the snowfall touching the soul."

Dick Allen's "The Selfishness of the Poetry Reader" is humorous although it seems to speak of a frustration or a loneliness at being so interested in poetry that he quotes lines at breakfast and keeps books by his bed. No one else seems to understand...

"And I'm certain I'm the single man who owns
a house with bookshelves,
who drives to work without a CD player,
taking the long way, by the ocean breakers."

"Sea of Faith" by John Brehm has a comforting conclusion with images of magical blue waters and a life that is easier to live when all your questions have been answered. Billy Collins' poem "Dharma," about his dog, is one of my favorite poems and I felt compelled to read it to my husband, who thought at first I was referring to a TV show.

John Haines' "The Last Election" paints an image of a world at peace, it is an interesting idea, but seems to speak of a world where everyone becomes much more intimate with their own worlds, turning off the TV. Interesting thoughts and not watching the news as often does make one less stressed.

Tony Hoagland's somewhat sardonic poem "Lawrence" will amuse anyone familiar with the writings of D.H. Lawrence. At times while reading this book I had the feeling of how disappointing it must be to know so much about an author and to walk in a world that runs hurriedly by with callous disregard. Some of the poets even feel lonely walking amongst their peers, as they are so deep in thought about the world and have so many literary references to draw from. David Ray seems to make a study of Hemingway's Garden and William Kulik takes us into a comedy with "The Triumph of Narcissus and Aphrodite."

Jennifer Michael Hecht's "September" is startling in beauty with casual ideas flowing from the page, winding their way right around your heart. One line struck me as especially poignant:

"Tonight, there are people who are so happy,
that they have forgotten to worry about tomorrow."

The beauty of The Best American Poetry series is that each year a different guest editor helps to select the poems and now and then you will fall in love with the same poems. This book was especially fun to read and is one of my favorites from the 90s.

If you enjoy poems by Billy Collins, I can also highly recommend "Picnic, Lightning, look for the poem "I Go Back to the House for a Book" and "Questions About Angels," which has the most brilliant of lines in a poem: "I would feel the pages of books turning inside me like butterflies." I also loved "The Art of Drowning." OK, I admit, I love all his books.

~The Rebecca Review

I look forward to each new installment of the BAP series, and I appreciate the unique gloss that each guest editor puts on "their" edition. I enjoy some volumes more than others, and Bly's is one of my favorites. I wearied of the political stridency in Adrienne Rich's 1996 volume, and John Hollander's 1998 volume was a bit too formalistic. Bly's volume, though, contains a nice selection of accessible, incisive and sparkling poems--crisp, pungent and immediate.

I was excited by the first few poems in this collection because I admire formalism and precision in poetry. But I also admire life, surprise, human voices, and raw power in poetry, and the more I read of this collection, the more I felt the need to open a window for some air. Too many of these poems were left-brain exercises in language, but language as divorced from life. And the lengths! There wasn't a single long poem in this collection that I had any interest in continuing with after the first three pages, and to my dismay, many of these went on considerably beyond three pages. (One was at least 30 pages, or was I hallucinating?)

Anthologies are always hard to review because they contain such varied works from such varied writers. The 1999 version of this book is very good indeed, with lots of easy-to-read works. Most of the poems inside are simple and to the point, with nothing too abstract or creative. I must admit I didn't enjoy reading this book as much as I do anthologies with more varied styles, but if you're looking for a good book to curl up with over a cup of tea then this book will be a real treat.