Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

If you enjoy slam or nontraditional poetry, this is the best anthology I've found. Filled to the brim with poets you've never heard of as well as some familiar names, there's no deadspace here. The only downside is that some of the included writing is heads and tails above other poems in the anthology, but I'd be willing to bet that part of that is just an attempt (and likely success) at appealing to all different readers. If you can take each poem by itself as a single voice, you'll enjoy this more. Highly recommended.

I longed to be part of this world when I was a wee 14 year old. That's why part of me will love this book forever even though I have now determined that most slam poets & cafe poets are, well, not good. I guess the cream of the crop rose to the pages of this book though so it's mostly tolerable and often delightful.

This is an amazing collection of poetry, best read out loud.