The Best American Poetry 1994

by David Lehman (Editor), David Lehman (Series Editor)

Diverse in both subject matter and style, this is a collection of modern American poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

David Lehman is a poet and the series editor for The Best American Poetry series. He teaches at The New School in New York City.

Reviews

[Alan Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains among other poems a poem play I think is breathtakingly good in parts: Thomas M. Disch's 'The Cardinal Detoxes: A Play in One Act'

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ones, some not so good, but Poetry is always a matter of taste.

[Grace MacLaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeesh. I found a couple poems I liked towards the end. But it this is what poetry was like in the 1990s...thank you, next.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I prefer Romantic / Transcendentalist / etc. It might be pedestrian of me, but I like my poerty to be beautiful. This collection embodies a lot of what I dislike about modern poetry. Many of the pieces focus on the deliberately ugly. They are not bad per se, but I am not moved by blunt explorations of pain.
That said, there were a few very notable poems. I adored [i]Apollo Takes Charge of His Muses[/i] as well as [i]The Snake in the Garden Considers Daphne[/i]. Those are absolute gems. Perhaps I like them because they both make use of Greek myths, which are favorites of mine. I also love the economy and precision of the language. They were stunning and seemingly effortless.
As far as the longer poems go, I was suprised at how much I liked [i]The Cardinal Detoxes[/i]. It's quite lengthy, it takes on very unpleasant subjecter matter, but it was excellent. Perhaps it's the dark humor that runs throughout it that I responded to.
I also appreciated [i]Sestina[/i]. In a collection of mostly free / blank verse, it was delightful to have a piece that used such a difficult form.
Overall I give the collection only 2 stars, but the individual poems I noted are 4 to 5 stars.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite was Allison Funk's "After Dark." Had never heard of her before, which is the gift of these anthologies. Indeed, I love some, disliked many, knew if I made one for any given year it'd be different, know that's true for just about every reader.

[Catherine]

poetry

[^^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Perfectttt