Blues Poems

Rating:
Summary: SLOPPY EDITING - WHAT A PITY!
Review: I've read a few poems by Kevin Young in anthologies and liked them, so I bought this anthology with high expectations. Alas, I'm about as disappointed in it as I was in some of the segments of the recent PBS blues "mini-series", where a favorite movie director of mine, blues aficionado Martin Scorcese, botched a promising project! It's not that I object to most of Young's selections (although some are questionable); however, as someone who is rather familiar with African-American literature, I'm at a loss trying to figure out why some of the most important contemporary poetry concerning the blues is not included! And I'm not talking about obscure works -- I'm thinking, for example, of Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize-winner, former U.S. poet laureate and arguably not only our greatest living Black poet but one of the best American poets regardless of race. Did Mr. Young never come across Ms. Dove's marvelous poem "Canary", about Billie Holiday, or her funny observation of blues legend Champion Jack Dupree in "Shakespeare Say"? And there are other glaring omissions in this book that indicate Kevin Young did not do his homework. What a pity -- this sloppy (or lazy?) editing job really gave ME the blues.