The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-1997, a volume in The Best American Poetry series, was edited by David Lehman and by guest editor Harold Bloom, who chose the poems.
Bloom selected poems from every entry in the series through 1997, with the exception of the 1996 volume, edited by Adrienne Rich. Bloom criticized the 1996 issue in his introductory essay, claiming that Rich had selected poems based on the "race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and political purpose of the would-be poet", rather than on aesthetic merit. Lehman wrote in his own introductory essay that he believed a number of Rich's selections would have met Bloom's criteria, and that he disagreed with Bloom's decision to exclude any poems from Rich's editorship.
Read more about The Best Of The Best American Poetry 1988-1997: Critical Reaction, Poets and Poems Included, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words the, american and/or poetry:
“Heroism works in contradiction to the voice of mankind, and in contradiction, for a time, to the voice of the great and the good.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Of all the errors which can possibly be committed to the education of youth, that of sending them to Europe is the most fatal. I see [clearly] that no American should come to Europe under 30 years of age.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)