Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology Paperback – March 18, 2013

I basically would like to comment on the two previous reviews, as this is a specifically oriented anthology - toward modern/postmodern poetry - & does a great job as such. Obviously, with any anthology, personal taste will impact ones own judgement, but the anthology is two broad for everything to appeal to every(any?)one. The selections are strong, generally & the book is nearly 1000 pages. There is only so much space available to the editor, & one can hardly compile a "postmodern" anthology today & ignore FLARF, conceptual poetry etc. Some things need to be cut, & to his credit, Hoover cut himself. The jury is still out on the staying power of the FLARF & conceptual selection (though I think the "LANGUAGE" selections are well established & will hold up) but Hover can hardly pretend, in an honest anthology that these trends, for lack of a better word, don't exist. Harry Mathews would be nice, as nearly the only (possibly the only?) American member of the OUILOPO group, but it could be argued that his best writing is in his novels. Isn't it nice that Hoover has made so many updates that it is well worthwhile to own both books?

Well the Nibbler is old enough to have heard about the Beat Poets, but too young to have studied them. This book is well organized and gives a brief biographical sketch of each of the poets whose works are collected here. Postmodern American poetry is not for the faint of heart. It is often explicit, lacks rhyme, and meter and at first reading, it may leave you gasping. Stick with the book, read the poems a few times and out loud at least once. It is amazing, it doesn't lack reason after all. You are sure to find a favorite. You are also sure to find some that leave you cold. Maybe you will even begin to look forward to the poetry each week in the New Yorker.

This is a great anthology to get you up to date on modern and experimental poetry circa 1945-1990 or so. Has work by most of the heavy hitters from the Beat era, New York School, Deep Image and LANGUAGE poets and also hot shot new comers.

First off, I was delighted to see a blurb on the back by my favorite poet critic Sven Birketts. In and off itself, his willingness to say "...the first antology to capture the scope of the underlying event" meant a lot to me. And the book surely does that (111 poems by 103 poets) along with a 14 page intro that explains and defines Postmodern in terms of it's incipience and in terms of its classification among other genres of poetry, stressing more than anything else its use of every day speech patterns and an overall veering away from from formalism of anykind. I see it as a one of a kind book, and felt I'd gotten exactly what I'd paid for, which was a used copy that arrived in excellent shape from one of Amazon's sellers. Forces in Modern and Postmodern Poetry (Studies in Modern Poetry)

Excellent intros to authors. These guys are pretty much dead or close. What is past post-modern? Ultra-post-modern? End of language? End of Earth?

It was as described. Great Condition.

Hoover has done a terrific job bringing together some of the most important voices in American poetry of the past few decades. A fine poet and translator, he shows great acumen as an anthologist. I have lent this to many a college student who then decides he or she must own his or her own. Which is the point. Anthologies are not easy to assemble. This one, demanding, challenging, is wonderful.

This anthology is seriously flawed;it lacks a sufficient number of female poets.I found this anthology boring; I plan to give awaymy copy.

Given 'postmodern poetry' is so vague a term, this anthology is actually a pretty useful guide to the second half of the twentieth century in American poetry and poetics. You won't find your Billy Collinses herein; it charts formal challenges and its apposite selection preserves the vitality of its poetic movements. I found it odd that it was ordered poet by poet when the selection from any one writer is a fairly unsatisfying representation of their work; a chronological-by-poem or movement-wise approach might have made a little more sense. Nevertheless, there are some excellent poems. A thoroughly worthwhile reference.

Brilliant work on subject matter,voluminous,weighty and comprehensive. Must be the definitive tome.V.good service and delivery time.

Excellent thanks