American Poetry Since 1970: Up Late

If you're interested in contemporary & postmodern poetry, this is a better place than most to start. Codrescu doesn't come to the task of anthologizing with an ideological bone to pick. He requires only excellent, passionate speech. Unlike many anthologies, the range of styles is huge. What you won't get here is safe poetry, written by comfortable people more interested in keeping their jobs in some lame creative writing program than they are in their subject matter. You won't like everything in here, but you'll be stunned and amazed by much of it, and it will change the way you think about poetry. Very highly recommended.