The Best American Poetry 2005
by David Lehman, Paul Muldoon
List Price:
Our Price: $4.38
You Save: $11.62 (73%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David Lehman, Paul MuldoonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-13
ISBN: 0743257588
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of The Best American Poetry 2005
Book Review: Vivid Portraits of Mature Recollections
Summary: 5 Stars
"Your burglaries leave no thumbprint
Mine, too, are silent
I do my best imagining at night,
And you do yours with the help of shadows.
Like actors rehearsing a play,
The dark ones withdrew
Into remote corners of the room
The rest of us sat in expectation
Of your burning oratory."
~ from Sunlight by Charles Simic
The maturity of the poems in The Best American Poetry 2005 is instantly apparent the moment you read "In View of the Fact" by A.R. Ammons. This is a deeply thoughtful collection of poems best addressed when you are in a contemplative mood. Within the pages there are many surprises, lovely conclusions and especially creative thought patterns. Sexuality and death seem to be themes throughout, but there is also humor and cleverly designed rhymes the wittiest poets must long to master.
"Ants" by Vicki Hudspith is especially comical while Mary Karr's poem about her son is especially heart-warming and leans more towards a serious realization of life's complexity within expectation. Richard Garcia's "Adam and Eve's Dog" lightens a topic most would find quite serious and Edward Field's poem of praise has a beautiful freeing conclusion with metaphorical appeal.
"If I were Japanese I'd write about magnolias
in March, how tonal, each bud long as a pencil,
sheathed in celadon suede, jutting from a cluster
of glossy leaves. I'd end the poem before anything
bloomed, end with rain swelling the buds
and the sheaths bursting, then falling to the grass
like a fairy's castoff slippers, like candy wrappers,
like spent firecrackers."
~ Beth Ann Fennelly, pg. 46
What I am most impressed by in this collection of poems, is the truthfulness and the straightforward invitation into this sincerity. There is a cleverness in the crafting of each idea (I Want to be Your Shoebox) and at times profound lessons can appear through the viewpoint of a poet who sees the world a little more intensely (The Poets March on Washington). Jane Hirshfield's "Burlap Sack" paints an image of bondage and freedom, while Linda Pastan reveals a different type of cultural freedom.
Paul Muldoon's selections also provide a consistent mood and his love for rhyme and complex sentence structures invites you into a world of poems that reveal intricate details of your own life. At times his selections are realistic and edgy with mature considerations and at other times he has selected profound moments to inspire a more heartfelt appreciation for beauty. Both ideas seem to weave together to form a painting of how life is really lived in a realistic setting, as opposed to a more romantic rendering of ideas within a dreamscape of fantasy poems. Now and then, a line in a poem is so highly significant you can read the entire poem and then suddenly awaken upon a stunning moment.
"Wanting the tight buds of my loneliness
to swell and split, not die in wanting.
It was why I rushed through everything,
why I tore away at the perpetual gauze
between me and the stinging world"
~ pg. 133, Chase Twichell
I can also highly recommend the 2006 edition of The Best American Poetry, which is enhanced with pop culture references and a distinctly contemporary mood. As with all the books edited by David Lehman, the "Foreword" is well worth reading. David Lehman's experience in the world of poetry reveals ideas that will be of great interest to anyone interested in poetry culture.
~The Rebecca Review
Summary of The Best American Poetry 2005
This eagerly awaited volume in the celebrated Best American Poetry series reflects the latest developments and represents the state of the art today. Paul Muldoon, the distinguished poet and international literary eminence, has selected -- from a pool of several thousand published candidates -- the top seventy-five poems of the year.With insightful comments from the poets illuminating their work, and series editor David Lehman's perspicacious foreword, The Best American Poetry 2005 is indispensable for every poetry enthusiast.
Poetry Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Poetry Books
FOUR QUARTETS.by T. S. Eliot
Faber & Faber; Published: 1944; Hardcover; Book
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyamby Omar Khayyam
St. Martin's Press; Published: 1983-08-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Priapus Poems: EROTIC EPIGRAMS FROM ANCIENT ROMEUniversity of Illinois Press; Published: 1999-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $180.00
Beowulfby Seamus Heaney
Penguin Books; Published: 2000-09-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $14.92
Void of Course (Poets, Penguin)by Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Speaking of Siva (Penguin Classics)by Anonymous
Penguin Classics; Published: 1973-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.67
Price in other shops:
A Night Without Armor : Poemsby Jewel
It Books; Published: 1999-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.84
Price in other shops:
Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poemsby Jane Hirshfield
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963by Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial; Published: 1992-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.65
Price in other shops:
Yeats Folklore and Occultismby Frank Kinahan
Unwin Hyman; Published: 1988-10; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Best American Poetry 2007: Series Editor David LehmanScribner; Published: 2007-09-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.30
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2007 (The Best American Poetry)Scribner; Published: 2007-09-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2000Scribner; Published: 2000-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.08
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2002by Robert Creeley
Scribner; Published: 2002-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.47
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2004Scribner; Published: 2004-08-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2003by Yusef Komunyakaa
Scribner; Published: 2003-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2006 (Best American Poetry)by Billy Collins
Scribner; Published: 2006-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2009: Series Editor David LehmanScribner; Published: 2009-09-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2010: Series Editor David LehmanScribner; Published: 2010-09-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry 2008: Series Editor David Lehman, Guest Editor Charles WrightScribner; Published: 2008-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.58
Price in other shops: