The Best American Poetry 1998 (Paperback)

~ David Lehman (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"True poetry has always striven for, and has in the last twenty years come to perfect, a nobility of expression that is of vital importance for our democratic esthetic, moral, and political culture." So writes John Hollander in the notably cheerful introduction to his selection of The Best American Poetry 1998. Highlights of the nobly constructed anthology include an excerpt from John Bricuth's forthcoming Just Let Me Say This About That, Thylias Moss's "The Right Empowerment of Light," John Koethe's "The Secret Amplitude" and Jacqueline Osherow's "La Leggenda della Vera Croce." As always in this David Lehman edited series, each poet contributes a short note on his or her anthologized poem. (Scribner, $14 352p ISBN 0-684-81450-1; $30 cloth 81453-6; Aug.) For a glimpse of the former state of the art, look no further than this fall's Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Edited by Eric L. Haralson (with Hollander as an advisory editor), the 115 entries in this biographical encyclopedia cover every poet included by Hollander in The Library of America's acclaimed American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Contributors to the encyclopedia include Angus Fletcher (on James Russell Lowell), Daniel Hoffman (on Poe and Stephen Crane) and Barbara Packer (on Joseph Rodman Drake). (Fitzroy Dearborn, $95 536p ISBN 1-57958-008-4; Sept.)
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Apollonian virtues?elegance, measure, constancy?abound in Hollander's 75 selections from last year's magazine verse. Like Harold Bloom, editor of The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-1997 (LJ 4/1/98), Hollander also eschews, if more politely, the alleged excesses of postmodernism, and his exhibits offer evidence that the old prosodic practices of rhyme, pentameter, sonnet, and sestina are very much alive in the hands of both new (Craig Arnold) and familiar (Hecht, Walcott, Justice) practitioners. But while the technical skills displayed in individual pieces may inspire admiration, the collective tenor of this volume seems overly sedate, solemn, and, well, fussy. Long, static meditations alternate with shorter, scenic ones, and the sparing humor is usually of a droll sort. True, no single volume in this often exciting annual series has quite represented the full stylistic spectrum of American poetry, but Hollander's choice implies a partisanship as narrow (if oppositely so) as Adrienne Rich's controversial 1996 selection. Still, for readers who feel besieged by inscrutable poetic experiments, this installment will be a zephyr from Parnassus.?Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Scribner Paper Fiction; 1996- edition (August 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684814501
• ISBN-13: 978-0684814506
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,153,932 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars best and not so best poetry, April 22, 2000

By	choiceweb0pen0 (Lafayette, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best American Poetry 1999 (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "safe", July 28, 2000

By	Zane Ivy (Seoul) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best American Poetry 1999 (Paperback)

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...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, May 3, 2000

By	Gianmarco Manzione (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best American Poetry 1999 (Paperback)

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.