Postmodern American poetry A Norton anthology

Review by Booklist Review

When Hoover's first anthology of postmodern American poetry appeared in 1994, it established invaluable parameters for post-1950 avant-garde works in 675 pages. The second edition fills 976, an indication of the fervor with which poets have responded to the enormous waves of change delivered by the intervening two decades, particularly the digital revolution. Hoover's expert introduction tracks all the stages and facets of postmodern poetry, including such modes as conceptual poetry, cyberpoetry, and proceduralism, which often involve appropriation and cybersampling. He has also included 16 essays that articulate postmodern poetics. The 114 poets (each succinctly and informatively introduced) and their 557 poems are arranged chronologically. The well-chosen selections range exhilaratingly from Denise Levertov's intense lyricism and John Ashbery's delight in artifice to sampling poet Eleni Sikelianos, collagist Lisa Jarnot, and proceduralist Noah Eli Gordon, who created The Source by culling . . . bits of language from page 26 in nearly 10,000 books in the Denver Public Library. Each approach, mechanical or intuitive, yields poems of provocation, mystery, wit, even beauty, adding up to an engrossing and defining collection.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Hoover, a highly regarded West Coast poet and deep practitioner of the poetics that are the focus of this book, has greatly expanded this important anthology for its second edition. First coined by the poet Charles Olsen in 1951, the term "postmodern" is defined by Hoover in his introduction as "an experimental approach to composition, as well as a worldview that sets itself apart from mainstream culture and the sentimentality and self-expressiveness of its life in writing." That definition suggests both academic and theoretical nature of much of the poetry contained herein, as well as the many unusual formal devices often employed. But the range here is stunning, from Olsen's panoramic histories to Frank O'Hara's chatty cityscapes to Lyn Hejinian's bottomless autobiography. What makes this edition so welcome, for both classroom and personal use, is its inclusion of many newer poets whose careers hadn't yet begun when the first edition was published. Now we have K. Silem Mohammad's Internet-infused lines, Claudia Rankine's moral collages, Christian Bok's vowel experiments, and more, including very new writers like Ben Lerner. There's plenty of everything-especially strong emotion-if one knows where to look. This will be an essential book for students and serious fans of poetry. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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