Inspirational and a source of renewal, this anthology is a beautiful collection of essential twentieth century poetry. Hayden Carruth presents both the well known and less well known poets of our age and in doing so delights the reader. I regularly dip into this volume for the refreshing west wind of wonderful poetry. ( )

A large and insightful collection of American 20th century poetry, excellently selected and edited by Hayden Carruth, that was, unfortunately, released only in a grim and very fat little mass-market paperback edition. Every copy I've ever seen, mine included, was dog-eared, stained, and stuffed with little scraps of paper as bookmarks to recall favorites. ( )

Still my favorite anthology of modern American poetry; my only complaint would be that Carruth shortchanges himself by including only a few haiku from his own work -- it took me years to realize what a great poet he was. (The title is from Stevens's "Evening Without Angels.") ( )

"To admit no poem merely because it is famous ..." is one of the criteria editor Carruth lists in his foreward, and that was a pretty unique idea in the 1970s when T.S. Eliot and a few others were widely known ... but Carruth included David Ray, Jean Valentine, and a host of others not so familiar in this sterling poetry anthology that is still popular and being reprinted every few years.

This is a fantastic book for any budding writer or reader. I carried this book everwhere I went for the longest time, and I still find it inspiring. I'd be lost without it.