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toniclark's review
2.0
Disappointed this year. The poems I liked best:
Stephen Dunn, "The Imagined"
Robert Pinsky, "Improvisations on Yiddish" (It might have helped that I have heard him talk about the writing of the poem, what it's about, what it means to him.)
Dean Young, "Restoration Ode"
Kevin Young, "Expecting"
Stephen Dunn, "The Imagined"
Robert Pinsky, "Improvisations on Yiddish" (It might have helped that I have heard him talk about the writing of the poem, what it's about, what it means to him.)
Dean Young, "Restoration Ode"
Kevin Young, "Expecting"
rremer's review against another edition
3.0
A really good anthology of the year. It was cool to read so many new poets and there are few who I went and looked up after reading a poem of theirs to find more.
timeunspun's review
4.0
Well put together collection, flows well. Did the job of directing me to new poets and journals to check out.
b_p's review
3.0
Overall, I would give this collection a B average (technically an 85.2% avg.) as far as the quality of the poems contained. I know that attempting to quantify poetic effect/value is a ridiculous gesture, but I am simply a ridiculous person. Of course, this is purely based off of my own tastes and will not necessarily reflect your average satisfaction rate.
I have not read too many modern poetry anthologies, but I am starting to do so for two reasons. First, to narrow down my own literary tastes. Second, to improve my own poetry and eventually find a more distinct voice. I find myself in the habit of simply imitating the voices of the poets that I am inspired by from week to week.
On the whole, Mark Doty's selections were predictably... fine. There was a consistent string of poems that earned simple B grades, a small handful of C range poems, and only a minority of pieces that earned a B+ and over. Although the average was better than at least two of the other collections (2013 and 2015) but the experience of reading them was much less interesting on account of the similarity of the voices selected. Theory: A disparity in quality and taste leads to a more intriguing reading experience of a BAP than the bland consistency of a Doty-like editor. This is not to suggest that Doty is not an accomplished poet or that he has bad taste.
The following are my favorites from this collection:
Masterpieces (7)
"The Imagined" by Stephen Dunn
"Collision" by Steven Heighton
"Void and Compensation (Facebook)" by Michael Morse
"Hate Mail" by Carol Muske-Dukes
"Song" by Alicia Ostriker
"The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter" by Mark Strand
"Expecting" by Kevin Young
Masterful (8)
"For Furious Nursing Baby" by Julianna Baggot
"Delivery" by Billy Collins
"Tenor" by Fady Joudah
"Either Or" by Maxine Kumin
"Mrs. Mason and the Poets" by David Mason
"In Provincetown, and Ohio, and Alabama" by Mary Oliver
"Where Do We Go After We Die" by Steve Orlen
"The Afterlife" by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Masters Candidates (9)
"Child Holding Potato" by Rick Barot
"BASIC" by Heather Christle
"More Than Twice, More Than I Can Count" by Peter Cooley
"Helianthus annuus (Sunflower)" by Amy Glynn Greacen
"A Proposed Curriculum Change" by Richard Howard
"Hollow Boom Soft Chime: The Thai Elephant Orchestra" by Sarah Lindsay
"Playacting" by Kay Ryan
"Minding Rites" by David Yezzi
"Restoration Ode" by Dean Young
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 32% of the poems contained in this volume.
I have not read too many modern poetry anthologies, but I am starting to do so for two reasons. First, to narrow down my own literary tastes. Second, to improve my own poetry and eventually find a more distinct voice. I find myself in the habit of simply imitating the voices of the poets that I am inspired by from week to week.
On the whole, Mark Doty's selections were predictably... fine. There was a consistent string of poems that earned simple B grades, a small handful of C range poems, and only a minority of pieces that earned a B+ and over. Although the average was better than at least two of the other collections (2013 and 2015) but the experience of reading them was much less interesting on account of the similarity of the voices selected. Theory: A disparity in quality and taste leads to a more intriguing reading experience of a BAP than the bland consistency of a Doty-like editor. This is not to suggest that Doty is not an accomplished poet or that he has bad taste.
The following are my favorites from this collection:
Masterpieces (7)
"The Imagined" by Stephen Dunn
"Collision" by Steven Heighton
"Void and Compensation (Facebook)" by Michael Morse
"Hate Mail" by Carol Muske-Dukes
"Song" by Alicia Ostriker
"The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter" by Mark Strand
"Expecting" by Kevin Young
Masterful (8)
"For Furious Nursing Baby" by Julianna Baggot
"Delivery" by Billy Collins
"Tenor" by Fady Joudah
"Either Or" by Maxine Kumin
"Mrs. Mason and the Poets" by David Mason
"In Provincetown, and Ohio, and Alabama" by Mary Oliver
"Where Do We Go After We Die" by Steve Orlen
"The Afterlife" by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Masters Candidates (9)
"Child Holding Potato" by Rick Barot
"BASIC" by Heather Christle
"More Than Twice, More Than I Can Count" by Peter Cooley
"Helianthus annuus (Sunflower)" by Amy Glynn Greacen
"A Proposed Curriculum Change" by Richard Howard
"Hollow Boom Soft Chime: The Thai Elephant Orchestra" by Sarah Lindsay
"Playacting" by Kay Ryan
"Minding Rites" by David Yezzi
"Restoration Ode" by Dean Young
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 32% of the poems contained in this volume.
superkaren's review
4.0
Usually, I find poetry a bit too esoteric and confusing. But there are some gems in this collection.
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