’Fess up. You bought a copy.
I did this year, anyway. I actually buy the essay and short story anthologies in the Scribner Best of series year after year without fail because I tend to use them as inexpensive readers for my writing students, but I’m more selective with the poetry volumes of the same series. In fact, when I took inventory from my personal bookshelf, I only have (or kept) the volumes edited by Adrienne Rich, Rita Dove and Yusef Komunyakaa. I refused to buy the edition The Best of the Best, which was edited by Harold Bloom, who excluded anything from Rich’s selections and then gave a lame explanation for it. I do remember buying the anthology edited by Lyn Hejinian, mostly out of curiosity, though I didn’t keep it.
Why am I so picky with the poetry series? Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve never been included (though I was short listed for the Best American Essays once). I tell myself (just like I tell my students) that this is one editor’s selections and therefore quite subjective. I tell myself that I really don’t care that I can’t put that little gem of a recognition on my CV or even in my bio. I tell myself that when I read the list of contributors in the collection listed on the back cover, that it’s more out of interest and not because I’m looking to make crazy gesticulations like “Her!”.
This year, the volume is edited by Heather McHugh, a poet I read, respect and admire, so out of my loyalty to her work and her politics I bought my yellow copy with the Lichtenstein graphic on the cover. The purchase was further encouraged by the fact that I recognized a few of the names: Kazim Ali, Denise Duhamel, Peter Pereira, Natasha Sajé—friends who are heretofore demoted to acquaintances because I’m so jealous. (Kidding, kiddos!)
Anyway, the one feature I do look forward to is the poet’s commentary posted with each bio in the back. They usually run the gamut from pretentious to insightful, from half-assed to thought-provoking, from bland to compelling. And of course, it’s always fun to debate the individual choices of poems in the collection itself.
I’ve got my opinions, but I’d like to hear yours. What do you think of the series? And if you bought this year’s book in the poetry series, what do you think of the entries?
I think the series may be nearly as good as it can be given the structural difficulties involved in creating and marketing such a volume year after year, though of course I prefer some years’ and some editors’ hauls to others. I reviewed the Bloom Best-of-Best when it came out– I too lament his blanket dismissal of Rich’s selections, though not to the extent of throwing the book out the window. And, believe it or not, I haven’t yet seen this year’s. Moving will do that.
Posted By: Steve on October 7, 2007 at 7:24 pmReport this comment
Rigoberto, I confess: I’ve never bought a copy of this series, and stopped even looking at the TOC’s a few years back. Basically, any such anthology is going to be pitched to the lowest common denominator, no matter what “school” the editor hails from.
Posted By: Ange on October 7, 2007 at 9:49 pmReport this comment
Wasn’t it John Ashbery, who said that this collection should be called “Some Ok Poems of the Year”?
Posted By: Vivek Narayanan on October 7, 2007 at 11:25 pmReport this comment
My work “Vowels” appears in this anthology….
Posted By: Christian Bök on October 8, 2007 at 7:00 pmIf you would like to enjoy some scathing assaults upon the poems in this anthology (my own poem included), you should feel free to consult the cartoon animals at the blog of Jim Behrle:
http://greatestlivingpoet.blogspot.com/2007/09/best-american-poetry-2007-cartoon.html
Happy schadenfreude!
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Uhm…you crazy kids, all of you. (And I admire your self-effacing sense of humor, Christian Bok–if that is indeed your real name…;-) ) I still think it’s worth the effort to look at these books and to use them as springboards toward important conversations regarding trends, tastes, and the construction of a populist canon. I’ve met non-poetry readers who actually pick this series up as a means to an introduction to “American poetry.” I usually respond by saying it is and it’s not a good start, but at least it’s a start. And let us not forget something about the process by which the special guest editor is guided by the vetted selections of the series editor David Lehman (and/or whoever is helping him narrow down the shortlist). Anyway, there’s something for everyone, usually, and like it or not the series is here to stay and to say something about the contemporary poetry scene.
Posted By: Rigoberto on October 9, 2007 at 6:33 amReport this comment
Bok, you scamp!! Are you the first Canadian to be featured in the BAP? With a poem written like 10 years ago? Cheers! Frescas for everyone…
Posted By: behrle on October 9, 2007 at 9:31 amxojimmy
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I never buy it.l I am waiting for the issue edited by Rigoberto Gonzalez.
Posted By: Scott Hightower on October 16, 2007 at 1:12 amReport this comment