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The Oxford Book of American Poetry

by David Lehman

The Oxford Book of American Poetry Cover

Staff Pick

The Oxford Book of American Poetry is a landmark event in publishing — it's been thirty years since the last edition, and David Lehman has shown Oxford's customary care in selecting poets of the highest caliber. Going back as far as Anne Bradstreet and including many works by contemporary poets such as Jorie Graham and Anne Carson, this anthology is an essential work for the twentieth-first century.
Recommended by Jill Owens, Powells.com

The Oxford Book of American Poetry is a landmark event in publishing — it's been thirty years since the last edition, and David Lehman has shown Oxford's customary care in selecting poets of the highest caliber. Going back as far as Anne Bradstreet and including many works by contemporary poets such as Jorie Graham and Anne Carson, this anthology is an essential work for the twentieth-first century.
Recommended by Jill Owens, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Here is the eagerly awaited new edition of The Oxford Book of American Poetry brought completely up to date and dramatically expanded by poet David Lehman. It is a rich, capacious volume, featuring the work of more than 200 poets-almost three times as many as the 1976 edition. With a succinct and often witty head note introducing each author, it is certain to become the definitive anthology of American poetry for our time.

Lehman has gathered together all the works one would expect to find in a landmark collection of American poetry, from Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" to Stevens's "The Idea of Order at Key West," and from Eliot's "The Waste Land" to Ashbery's "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror." But equally important, the editor has significantly expanded the range of the anthology. The book includes not only writers born since the previous edition, but also many fine poets overlooked in earlier editions or little known in the past but highly deserving of attention. The anthology confers legitimacy on the Objectivist poets; the so-called Proletariat poets of the 1930s; famous poets who fell into neglect or were the victims of critical backlash (Edna St. Vincent Millay); poets whose true worth has only become clear with the passing of time (Weldon Kees).

Among poets missing from Richard Ellmann's 1976 volume but published here are W. H. Auden, Charles Bukowski, Donald Justice, Carolyn Kizer, Kenneth Koch, Stanley Kunitz, Emma Lazarus, Mina Loy, Howard Moss, Lorine Niedecker, George Oppen, James Schuyler, Elinor Wylie, and Louis Zukosky. Many more women are represented: outstanding poets such as Josephine Jacobsen, Josephine Miles, May Swenson. Numerous African-American poets receive their due, and unexpected figures such as the musicians Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Robert Johnson have a place in this important work.

This stunning collection redefines the great canon of American poetry from its origins in the 17th century right up to the present. It is a must-have anthology for anyone interested in American literature and a book that is sure to be consulted, debated, and treasured for years to come.

Review:

"There is no one more qualified to undertake such a project...a brilliant updating of the previous edition." James Tate, a member of the Academy of American Arts and Letters and winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in poetry

Review:

"It can't get much better than this." Rochelle Moore, Associated Content

Review:

"The book is not only a sound historical survey, but also gives the reader a powerful taste of poetry's impact upon the wider world." The Economist

Review:

"Indeed, for the reader otherwise disinclined to pick up a volume of poetry, you may also find yourself enjoying the selections in this collection. It will be a purchase that will stay with you far longer than any meal at a fancy restaurant upon which you might spend the money. And it will be better for you as well." The Washington Times

Synopsis:

This stunning collection redefines the great canon of American poetry from its origins in the 17th century to the present. The Oxford Book of American Poetry is a must-have anthology for anyone interested in American literature and a book that is sure to be consulted, debated, and treasured for years to come.

Synopsis:

Here is the eagerly awaited new edition of The Oxford Book of American Poetry brought completely up to date and dramatically expanded by poet David Lehman. It is a rich, capacious volume, featuring the work of more than 200 poets-almost three times as many as the 1976 edition.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Robert T, May 29, 2006 (view all comments by Robert T)
Scandalously unbalanced treatment of American verse; time spent bowing and scraping at the idol of Walt Whitman, among others, is gained at the expense of some of America's finest...in this volume, BOTH W.H. Auden and T.S. Eliot are American poets (one born and educated in England, emigrating to the U.S. at age 40; the other born and largely educated in the U.S., adopting Britain in his mid-20s) ...glance through the table of contents and browse the volume itself, and you'll find tiny snippets of some of our best poets, engulfed by huge selections of the few that this editor considers laudable. A biased, lamentable volume that is totally unworthy of the Oxford imprimatur.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780195162516
Author:
Lehman, David
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Editor:
Brehm, John
Subject:
Anthologies (multiple authors)
Subject:
American poetry
Subject:
Literature/English | Poetry | Anthologies
Edition Number:
5
Publication Date:
April 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
1132
Dimensions:
9.38x6.77x2.47 in. 3.72 lbs.

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