The Best American Poetry 2007: Series Editor David Lehman [Hardcover]

David Lehman (Editor), Heather McHugh (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Best American Poetry | Publication Date: September 11, 2007

The twentieth edition of The Best American poetry series celebrates the rich and fertile landscape of American poetry. Renowned poet Heather McHugh loves words and the unexpected places they take you; her own poetry elevates wordplay to a species of metaphysical wit. For this year's anthology McHugh has culled a spectacular group of poems reflecting her passion for language, her acumen, and her vivacious humor.

From the thousands of poems published or posted in one year, McHugh has chosen seventy-five that fully engage the reader while illustrating the formal and tonal diversity of American poetry. With new work by established poets such as Louise Glück, Robert Hass, and Richard Wilbur, The Best American Poetry 2007 also features such younger talents as Ben Lerner, Meghan O'Rourke, Brian Turner, and Matthea Harvey.

Graced with McHugh's fascinating introduction, the anthology includes the ever-popular notes and comments section in which the contributors write about their work. Series editor David Lehman's engaging foreword limns the necessity of poetry. The Best American Poetry 2007 is an exciting addition to a series committed to covering the American poetry scene and delivering great poems to a broad audience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The 20th volume in America's most popular annual poetry anthology series is perhaps the most esoteric. McHugh, an unusual poet herself, who says she is Fond of the textures of a text, the matter of a letter, has tried to assemble what she feels is a cohesive anthology rather than simply a gathering of favorite poems from this past year's literary magazines. As ever, some familiar names—former editors and famous poets—appear: John Ashbery, Billy Collins (Who has time for sunlight falling on the city), Robert Creeley, Louise Glück, Robert Hass, Robert Pinsky, Galway Kinnell. But there are also a number of representatives, such as Rae Armantrout and Christian Bök (selves we woo/ we lose// losses we levee/ we owe), from off-center traditions. A few of the newbies tend toward the experimental, such as Ben Lerner and Danielle Pafunda: Do he & he have a big muscle in the arm from the aiming? All and all, this is a riskier than usual volume, though also full of familiar pleasures. Certainly it attests to poetry's continuing vitality. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

You certainly can't accuse McHugh, editor of this year's edition of this respected annual anthology, of taking things too seriously. In fact, the 2007 volume seems excessively keen on balancing poems with any degree of gravitas with a corresponding gang of poets dealing in parody and relentless wordplay. That isn't to say that some of the funny stuff isn't very funny indeed—Billy Collins' gleeful "The News Today," a spectacularly foul-mouthed send–up of Catullus, is a case in point—or that so much contemporary poetry doesn't live in a hot-air balloon in need of regular puncturing. But the semantic antics here sometimes grow frenzied, empty, and tiresome, driving the reader to seek relief in quieter, more secure poems by old hands like Marvin Bell ("The Method") and Jane Hirshfield ("Critique of Pure Reason"). Maybe the strangest thing about this volume is how few poems it actually contains, what with a staggering 41 pages of contributors' bios and commentary. Nance, Kevin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (September 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743299728
• ISBN-13: 978-0743299725
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,093,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An Anthology That Actually Works, December 31, 2010

By 

Gregor von Kallahann - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best American Poetry 2007: Series Editor David Lehman (Hardcover)

Guest editor Heather McHugh is not above having a little fun in 2007 volume of "The Best American Poetry." A spirit of linguistic play dominates many of the selections McHugh has chosen. There are a number of works by relatively unknown poets, and it's not surprising that these tend toward the experimental. Many of them also tend toward the playful as well. Even a stalwart like Billy Collins is seen at his most playful and daring.

The volume has had its critics, and that's to be expected. But while academics and other writers may argue over the merits of individual poems and McHugh's overall approach, the anthology remains effective both as a work unto itself (it actually flows) and as an introduction for general readers to individual poets and the genre as a whole. The "Contributors' Notes and Comments" section is extensive and gives readers genuine insight into the creative process behind each poem.