The Best American Poetry 1988

by John Ashbery (Editor), David Lehman (Series Editor)

An anthology of contemporary poets presents works that reflect the diversity in American poetry

Genres: Poetry

249 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Formal experimentation and connection to visual art of noted American poet John Ashbery of the original writers of New York School won a Pulitzer Prize for Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975).

From Harvard and Columbia, John Ashbery earned degrees, and he traveled of James William Fulbright to France in 1955. He published more than twenty best known collections, most recently A Worldly Country (2007). Wystan Hugh Auden selected early Some Trees for the younger series of Elihu Yale, and he later obtained the major national book award and the critics circle. He served as executive editor of Art News and as the critic for magazine and Newsweek. A member of the academies of letters and sciences, he served as chancellor from 1988 to 1999. He received many awards internationally and fellowships of John Simon Guggenheim and John Donald MacArthur from 1985 to 1990. People translated his work into more than twenty languages. He lived and from 1990 served as the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. professor of languages and literature at Bard college.

Reviews

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going to feel a bit sheepish giving such a low star rating to this collection (who am I to contradict the editors about what is good poetry?), but I see it seems to be the consensus view among other reviewers as well. This is a much weaker collection than the two other volumes of this series I've read, 1999 and 2001.

I suppose it may have something to do with the series just finding its moorings. This is the first volume ever produced. It may also just have something to do with the taste of the editor, in this case guest editor John Ashbery joins series editor David Lehman. I like Ashbery as a poet, but a lot of his choices here are poems with obscure language and lack of concrete subjects. It just tends toward the least appealing types of poems to me personally.

There's still some good stuff here of course, but it's just not the feast to which I have become accustomed with these books.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a long time for me to get through this. I have no idea where I picked this up, but I loved the Geoffrey Young poem at the end and others, too. I think it's difficult to rate an anthology, especially one that was the start of something we are all familiar with today. It was interesting to dive into the cross-section of what was being read at the time. I was so far removed from poetry then.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this collection, if only to see where this series started. It has certainly improved over the years. A few of the poems are standouts - Wanda Coleman, Amy Gerstler, Alice Fulton, Ron Padgett, Charles Simic, and Ruth Stone. But the offerings by the usual suspects (Robert Hass, Anthony Hecht, James Merrill, James Tate) are all pretty dull and unmemorable. This was, as far as I know, the only time that poems by both the editor and series editor were included - thank God. It's so embarrassing. Anyway, the series got much better as time went on and this one is really only for the most committed of readers - anyone else should just skip forward to at least 1999, or 2007, or 2014 (my favorite).

[Bibliophile10 · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I don't regret reading this anthology, I don't plan to read it as a whole again. A few of the poems I'll return to--the ones by John Ash, Ted Berrigan, Alice Fulton, Amy Gerstler, Caroline Knox, David Lehman, Charles Simic, James Tate, and John Yau. I'll echo a previous reviewer in saying that I'm turned off when editors include their own works and when a poem (or any modern writing trying to take itself seriously) uses the exclamation "O." Many selections in this volume embody objections that smart folks make against poetry--its purposeful obfuscation, its stuffy language. But I love poetry nonetheless and will certainly try another BAP volume.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this is the first edition in the series. It's also the best one. John Ashbery sure can pick out some poems.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection, though not the best of this series.

[Andreasaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite: "The Latest Hotel Guest Walks Over Particles That Revolve in Seven Other Dimensions Controlling Latticed Space" by Ruth Stone

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too bad the BAP series did not continue along these lines.