Rating: 3.75 Stars
Release Date: Feburary 21, 2023
Format: E-Book
Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
Dora Malech and Laura T. Smith collect an impressive range of sonnets from a variety of time periods of American history. This includes formal and subversive sonnets by established and new poets, across a variety of literary moments and movements.
Poets include Fredrick Goddard Tuckerman, Emma Lazarus, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gertrude Stein, Fradel Shtok, Claude McKay, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ruth Muskrat Bronson, Langston Hughes, Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dunstan Thompson, Rhina P. Espaillat, Lucille Clifton, Marilyn Hacker, Wanda Coleman, Patricia Smith, Jericho Brown, and Diane Seuss.
The sonnets are followed by a set of critical essays drawn from a group of diverse voices that represent the field of American sonnet studies to expound on the sonnets backgrounds.
Review:
This year I have been on a mission to broaden my poetry knowledge and I think I hit the jackpot when I found this anthology. Before starting this, I had no idea there was a difference between Sonnets and thought all of them were the same. After reading this I now know that is not the case and appreciate the work that the collaborators put into this to put together a great selection of sonnets that really capture the American spritit and the diversity that comes with poems.
The amount and variety of the sonnets offered in this anthology was appreciated. It provided a great diversity of poets in one single space, both new and old, current and past, many generations and races. The selections are great for those who want to start their poetry collection and knowledge.
The issue I had was with the essays, the both went into way to much detail and also not enough at the same time. My favorite essay was Deafing the Sonnet by Meg Day where she described her experience as a deaf poet and the compared it to other poets who were disabled that were included in the anthology. The shared experiences brought them to life of what the mindset must have been brining the poet to life in a whole new way. I loved that personalization and wished there were more essays that had a similar feel, it took a 200 year old poem I was not interested in and gave it new life.
Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the wide variety of sonnet options collected but, did not enjoy the essays as much. Great for a beginner who wants to get into American sonnets and to have a great reference looking back on for research purposes.
Disclaimer: Thank you Netgalley and University Of Iowa Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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