Dec 29, 2011 — Critic David Orr surveys the "jumbled landscape" of American poetry to select his favorite collections of the year: five books that will alternately comfort and challenge you.
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Truth And Beauty: 2011's Best American Poetry
by David Orr
Dec 29, 2011 — Critic David Orr surveys the "jumbled landscape" of American poetry to select his favorite collections of the year: five books that will alternately comfort and challenge you.
One of the few things almost everyone can agree on about contemporary American poetry is that no one can agree on much. At present, poetry is a jumbled landscape, with no single, dominant style and few living figures whose importance is accepted in more than one or two of the art form's tiny fiefdoms. Although some might find this state of affairs discouraging, I think there's good reason to be optimistic — poetry often needs to undergo periods of confusion to achieve the clarity for which we'll later remember it. Here are five books that suggest that even if American poetry isn't entirely sure where it's going, that doesn't mean it's gotten lost.
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