100 Essential Modern Poems
Adult/High School–Parisi's purpose was to give adults who are overwhelmed by the amount of poetry available today a good starting point, but high school literature students will also benefit from this title. His criteria for the selections were: modern, meaningful, and memorable. The poets range from William Butler Yeats to Rita Dove. Each of the 70 individuals whose work is represented receives a short, readable introduction that includes pertinent biographical information, a description of the poet's place in modern literary history, and an analysis of the writer's style. One to three representative poems follow each entry. One drawback of the book is its arrangement: the entries run from page to page without a break. However, the content is so readable and the table of contents so clear that this is minor. The work is meant to be a small companion, a desert island collection. As such it will be useful to those new to the genre, as well as to readers looking for a single portable volume.–Sheila Janega, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.