Best of the Best American Poetry: 25th Anniversary Edition (The Best of the Best)
Each year a new volume in the Best American Poetry series, founded by poet Lehman, appears, each edited by a distinguished American poet, the likes of A. R. Ammons and Amy Gerstler. To celebrate the series’ twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 “best of the best.” The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988. In his far-reaching and enlivening introduction, Pinsky, an inspired poetry advocate, explains that his criteria were “ear, imagination, and urgency”; that is, poems that embody the “sense that the ancient art must strive to get to the bottom of things, that a lot is at stake.” The selections are arranged alphabetically by poet, ranging from Allen Ginsberg to Kevin Young, Megan O’Rourke to Adrienne Rich. Given the depth of Lehman and Pinsky’s opening essays and the concise poet biographies and the poets’ original statements about the writing of the poems, this is an anthology of broad scope, serious pleasure, and invaluable illumination. --Donna Seaman--This text refers to thePaperbackedition.