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melissafirman's review
I didn't connect with many of these poems, unfortunately. Decided to call this a DNF around the 1/3 mark, when I started skimming almost every poem. In my experience, this series is hit-or-miss; I enjoyed Best American 2010 but not Best of the Best (25 years).
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this.
b_p's review
3.0
Overall, I would give this collection a B average (technically an 84.4% 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.
I became wary of Duhamel after the third (and not final) Florida poet popped up in the anthology. Duhamel was, at the time, a professor at a Floridian university. This is the most biased BAP I have read to date. The Floridian poems were still good for the most part, but it is the principle of the thing that counts.
The following are my favorites from this collection:
Masterpieces (7)
"Stupid Sandwich" by Nathan Anderson
"The Unfinished Slave" by Bruce Bond
"Foundling" by Billy Collins
"The Statue of Responsibility" by Stephen Dunn
"Outline for My Memoir" by Thomas Lux
"Florida Poem" by Emma Trelles
"Casting Aspersions" by David Wagoner
Masterful (10)
"Pachyderm" by Sherman Alexie
"[white paper 24]" by Martha Collins
"All-American" by David Hernandez
"Wrong Question" by Tony Hoagland
"Blazing Saddles" by A. Van Jordan
"Eggheads" by John Koethe
"New Year" by Ed Ochester
"What It Feels Like to Be Aaron Smith" by Aaron Smith
"Now I'll Never Be Able to Finish That Poem to Bob" by Paul Violi
"Sugar Maples, January" by Richard Wilbur
Masters Candidates (10)
"Books, Bath Towels, and Beyond" by Wendy Barker
"Dear, Thanatos" by Traci Brimhall
"Death" by Kwame Dawes
"Perspective" by Laura Kasischke
"When the Men Go Off to War" by Victoria Kelly
"Once Upon a Time" by Anthony Madrid
"In Praise of Small Gods" by Jesse Millner
"Intro to Happiness" by J. Allyn Rosser
"Sotto Voce: Othello, Unplugged" by Tom Seibles
"The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV" by Stacey Waite
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 36% 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.
I became wary of Duhamel after the third (and not final) Florida poet popped up in the anthology. Duhamel was, at the time, a professor at a Floridian university. This is the most biased BAP I have read to date. The Floridian poems were still good for the most part, but it is the principle of the thing that counts.
The following are my favorites from this collection:
Masterpieces (7)
"Stupid Sandwich" by Nathan Anderson
"The Unfinished Slave" by Bruce Bond
"Foundling" by Billy Collins
"The Statue of Responsibility" by Stephen Dunn
"Outline for My Memoir" by Thomas Lux
"Florida Poem" by Emma Trelles
"Casting Aspersions" by David Wagoner
Masterful (10)
"Pachyderm" by Sherman Alexie
"[white paper 24]" by Martha Collins
"All-American" by David Hernandez
"Wrong Question" by Tony Hoagland
"Blazing Saddles" by A. Van Jordan
"Eggheads" by John Koethe
"New Year" by Ed Ochester
"What It Feels Like to Be Aaron Smith" by Aaron Smith
"Now I'll Never Be Able to Finish That Poem to Bob" by Paul Violi
"Sugar Maples, January" by Richard Wilbur
Masters Candidates (10)
"Books, Bath Towels, and Beyond" by Wendy Barker
"Dear, Thanatos" by Traci Brimhall
"Death" by Kwame Dawes
"Perspective" by Laura Kasischke
"When the Men Go Off to War" by Victoria Kelly
"Once Upon a Time" by Anthony Madrid
"In Praise of Small Gods" by Jesse Millner
"Intro to Happiness" by J. Allyn Rosser
"Sotto Voce: Othello, Unplugged" by Tom Seibles
"The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV" by Stacey Waite
Overall, I would absolutely to highly recommend approx. 36% of the poems contained in this volume.
chellyfish's review
3.0
Solid, solid poetry collection. There are some duds obviously, but there are also gems, which I've narrowed down to three above the rest.
"Pachyderm" by Sherman Alexie. Just in general, I have a huge literary crush on Mr. Alexie. Here, he takes up a unique literal list form of poetry, and employs a sort of free-floating stream of consciousness writing that starts off extremely humorous and gets dark and serious extremely fast. He manages it subtly though somehow, and without unwanted abruptness. He is a master in poetry and in prose.
"In Praise of Small Gods" by Jesse Millner. I've never read a Millner piece before so I came into this poem with no expectations, and truth be told, I'm not sure if I can even explain why I love it so much. It just effortlessly and simply expresses this fundamental love for the world in the now, as it is -- heaven is in the details of the space around us, what we feel and smell and think and see, more than in heaven itself.
Finally, "The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV" by Stacey Waite. In spite of the fact that I generally actively seek out lgbt themed literary pursuits, I had no idea that's what this was -- the title just jumped out at me in the ToC. But Stacey crafts this very needed take in transgender life. Waite doesn't adopt any anger or hate toward this little boy at the DMV, but instead, a rather hopeless, human, and relate-able tone permeates the poem. It's full of surprising turns and unexpected narrative and language choices. Really great.
"Pachyderm" by Sherman Alexie. Just in general, I have a huge literary crush on Mr. Alexie. Here, he takes up a unique literal list form of poetry, and employs a sort of free-floating stream of consciousness writing that starts off extremely humorous and gets dark and serious extremely fast. He manages it subtly though somehow, and without unwanted abruptness. He is a master in poetry and in prose.
"In Praise of Small Gods" by Jesse Millner. I've never read a Millner piece before so I came into this poem with no expectations, and truth be told, I'm not sure if I can even explain why I love it so much. It just effortlessly and simply expresses this fundamental love for the world in the now, as it is -- heaven is in the details of the space around us, what we feel and smell and think and see, more than in heaven itself.
Finally, "The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV" by Stacey Waite. In spite of the fact that I generally actively seek out lgbt themed literary pursuits, I had no idea that's what this was -- the title just jumped out at me in the ToC. But Stacey crafts this very needed take in transgender life. Waite doesn't adopt any anger or hate toward this little boy at the DMV, but instead, a rather hopeless, human, and relate-able tone permeates the poem. It's full of surprising turns and unexpected narrative and language choices. Really great.
tarae's review
2.0
I had such a hard time making it through this whole anthology. There are flashes of good and flashes of great but so much bad. Like, the poem that gets the most space, 13 pages of space, Mitch Susskind's "Joe Adamczyk," is a boring-ass narrative of some man's later-life identity crisis and self-awakening through mathematical philosophy and younger women? Brought on by his wife's menopause? It's edgy or exciting for a male poet to write a male character who thinks about a woman as a "cunt" while he's fucking her? I'm mad that Denise Duhamel made me read this trash. Speaking of edgy -- Aaron Smith's "What It Feels Like to Be Aaron Smith," is it supposed to be edgy, too? A poem about all the things you're not supposed to write about? That's not edgy, it's a cop-out. Aaron Smith, you shouldn't feel "guilty" for "laughing when Jeff says his messy apartment looks like Afghanistan," you should feel really very embarrassed. And probably ashamed, because I think shame is a stronger affect than guilt, maybe. Maybe 'you should be embarrassed' is the point, but fuck you. I hated "Eggheads" by John Koethe, too, some tired social/political criticism about "stupidity" being in "style." I'm mad that I had to read any shitty poem some clueless overly-praised white American man wrote. Do I have to say more than "Tony Hoagland"? No? Okay. I'll stop.
I'll tell you what I loved. I loved Jericho Brown's "Hustle," loved Traci Brimhall's "Dear Thanatos," loved Kwame Dawes' "Death," Sally Wen Mao's "XX," Maureen Seaton's "Chelsea/Suicide," Sherman Alexie's "Pachyderm," Stacey Waite's "The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV," Kevin Young's "Wintering." I mean, thank goodness for Jericho Brown, I'm incredulous about a poem of personal prison histories and racism actually making it into this anthology. But thankful, as I often am for Jericho Brown.
Oh, final note -- I really could have done without the vaguely patriotic introduction essays.
I'll tell you what I loved. I loved Jericho Brown's "Hustle," loved Traci Brimhall's "Dear Thanatos," loved Kwame Dawes' "Death," Sally Wen Mao's "XX," Maureen Seaton's "Chelsea/Suicide," Sherman Alexie's "Pachyderm," Stacey Waite's "The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV," Kevin Young's "Wintering." I mean, thank goodness for Jericho Brown, I'm incredulous about a poem of personal prison histories and racism actually making it into this anthology. But thankful, as I often am for Jericho Brown.
Oh, final note -- I really could have done without the vaguely patriotic introduction essays.
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