The Best American Poetry 2003 (Paperback)

~ Yusef Komunyakaa (Author), David Lehman (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By now readers are able to peruse these volumes with the sort of familiar affection given to the beloved family nuisance. This year, series editor David Lehman's temperature-taking preface reminds us of Ruth Lilly's colossal $100 million bequest to Poetry Magazine, and notes that you can now collect poet cards and purchase poet swimsuit calendars. The contributors' notes at the back of the book eat up more available pages than usual as they recount what particular works of art or jazz tracks made the authors write their "best" poems, while a modest voice indicates that this marks their 8th or 10th appearance in the series. Guest editor Komunyakaa (Neon Vernacular, 1994) argues that the avant-garde, which he terms the "exploratory" movement, exists as "a poetry that borders on cultivated solecism and begs theorists to decipher it" and that it is "death in language"; by contrast, the poetry he has chosen "has content." Finally, the poems themselves appear; here are fresh gems from Richard Howard, W. S. Merwin, Galway Kinnell (a spectacular threnody on the fall of New York's World Trade Center towers), Carolyn Kizer, Rita Dove, Richard Wilbur, James Tate, Louise Gleck, Philip Levine, C.K. Williams, and the three most recent Pulitzer Prize winners, Stephen Dunn, Carl Dennis and Paul Muldoon. Two other poets stand out-Amy Gerstler contributes an amusing Gilda Radner-like piece about misreading a mailer that wants to send her "Beethoven's Greatest Symphonies," while Ruth Stone (b. 1915) gives the proceedings a suitably youthful air with her speculative "Lines": "Voice, perhaps you are the universe;/ the hum of spiders." Nowhere near as lively as last year's Robert Creeley-edited compilation, the 16th edition of this annual has pleasures of its own.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

How fitting it is that Komunyakaa, a bold and brilliant poet from the African American South and a decorated Vietnam War veteran, selected the year "best" poems for the seventeenth volume in this exciting series, given the unusually conspicuous role poetry played in the news, including the poets' protest against the war in Iraq, as observed by series editor Lehman in his trenchant foreword. And there is, indeed, a palpable urgency and sharp awareness of the precariousness of life in the potent and diverse poems Komunyakaa has so astutely gathered. Brigit Pegeen Kelly's "The Dragon," a stunning description of a startling sight--two swarms of bees fly a snake over a garden--is followed by Galway Kinnell's intense remembrance of 9/11. Richard Howard's martini-dry wit plays in enlivening counterpoint to the down-home heat of Rodney Jones, and Wendell Berry and Michael Goldman unflinchingly assess the state of our species. By the close of this superbly edgy collection, the reader is torn between wonder and despair over humankind's capacity for beauty and horror. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1996 edition (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743203887
• ISBN-13: 978-0743203883
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #759,228 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Better of the Best, January 7, 2004

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

It seems a general rule of thumb that if you enjoy the guest editor's work, you will enjoy most of their selections. I enjoy Koumunyakaa and his choices for this years best poetry. I especially enjoyed his introduction talking about the lack of content in many poems today. As with most books in this series, there are many familiar names such as Merwin, Williams, Kizer, Levine, Philips, but also some new and hopefully upcoming poets, such as Joy Katz. There are a few September 11th poems, but most of them are readable. This is one of the best in the series that I have read.

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THANK-YOU'S, October 10, 2003

By	Steven Finch (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best American Poetry 2003: Series Editor David Lehman (Hardcover)

Thank you, David Lehman, for having chosen Yusef Komunyakaa to edit THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 2003, the most interesting since Adrienne Rich edited THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 1996. And thank you, Yusef Komunyakaa, for not shuffling the same old, worn cards again! Congratulations to all!

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Exceptional Read, June 14, 2004

By	Cherilyn Ferroggiaro (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

I will say once again,

David Lehman is one of the most facinating writers, poets, and editors that I have ever read. He is the author of The Daily Mirror, a wonderful and well penned selection of poems.
I believe his perspective and talent for finding the best poets lies in his experience. Mr.Lehman is a great editor and any reader who chooses to pick up and read this book will be thankful.

One can learn so much from the writers and makers of The Best American Poetry books. I also recommend, his most recent book, The Last Avant-Garde: The Making of the New York School of Poets. I give all these books 5 stars!