American Poetry

Rating:
Summary: A Catch All For What's Being Published
Review: By far the most representative and complete of the slew of younger poet anthologies. There are some fabulous "younger" poets highlighted here, Joe Bolton, Joel Brouwer, Stephanie Brown, Olena Kalytiak Davis, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Mark Levine, to name a few. There are also a number of poets included who I feel are just flavors of the moment. The democratic nature of this anthology is both its strength and its weakness. But if you're only going to purchase one "younger" poet anthology, this is definately the one to get. Trust me, I've read them all.

Rating:
Summary: safe poetry
Review: or poetry to be read in a safe. there are some lovely poems here from sherman alexie, david barber, mark levine, and david marlatt, but for the most part, the poems feel stiffly correct -- corpses with perfect posture. this is no-beauty, no-risk stuff.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction to the Next Wave of Poets
Review: There is a proliferation of anthologies out this year that collect the works of a number of younger poets (a response to the new millenium buzz, no doubt). However, of all them I found the Carengie Mellon anthology more comprehensive and inclusive in the scope of its vision. It is the largest with the highest number of younger writers (perhaps the press simply had a bigger budget). But regardless, Daniels and Costanzo gathered here an amazing group that reflects what will eventually become the diversified literary canon of the future. There are many discoveries here and it is obvious from the intro that the editors tried their best to search for those finds that other anthologies overlooked. Reaching for the obvious names would have been too easy a task, best left to lazier editors, so it is with great admiration that I salute this, the most energetic effort to date.