The Best American Poetry 2005

following The Enormous Success Of Her Two Bestselling Novels, the Red Tent And good Harbor, Award-winning Author Anita Diamant Delivers A Book Of Intimate Reflections On The Milestones, Revelations, And Balancing Acts Of Life As A Wife, Mother, Friend, And Member Of A Religious Community.

before the Red Tent, Before good Harbor, Before And During Six Books On Contemporary Jewish Life, Anita Diamant Was A Columnist. Over The Course Of Two Decades, She Wrote Essays About Friendship And Family, Work And Religion, Ultimately Creating Something Of A Public Diary Reflecting The Shape And Evolution Of Her Life -- As Well As The Trends Of Her Generation.

pitching My Tent Collects The Finest Of These Essays, All Freshly Revised, Updated, And Enriched With New Material, Forming A Cohesive And Compelling Narrative. Organized Into Six Parts, The Shape Of The Book Reflects The General Shape Of Adult Life, Chronicling Its Emotional And Practical Milestones. There Are Sections On Marriage And The Nature Of Family (love, Marriage, Baby Carriage); On The Ties That Bind Mother And Child (my One And Only); On The Demands And Rewards Of Friendship (the Good Ship); On The Challenges Of Balancing Jewish And Secular Calendars (time Wise); On Midlife (in The Middle); And On What It Means To Embrace Judaism In Today's Culture (home For The Soul).

publishers Weekly

this Extraordinarily Popular Series Enters Its 18th Year With A Strong, Entertaining, Accessible Effort; Muldoon (hay, Madoc, Etc.) Avoids Polemics And Lets Readers Focus On Poems. Elder Statesmen And Big Names Put In Expected Appearances, Some Of Them (a.r. Ammons, Donald Justice, Charles Bukowski) With Posthumously Published Verse. John Ashbery's Splendid In Dearest, Deepest Winter Shows Him Attending To Life After 9/11; Lyn Hejinian's Contribution (excerpted From A Book-length Poem) Attends To The Vagaries Of The Inner Life. Selections From Less Well-known Writers Favor Clarity, Technique, And Humor, Or At Least Wry Irony: Victoria Chang Describes Seven Changs Who Share Her Name; Marlys West's Ballad Of The Subcontractor Describes The Workers Who Deserted Her Building, And The Debate Champion Who Irritated Her In High School, Like A Star Quarterback But/ Smaller, Brighter. Stacey Harwood Assembles A Clever Prose Poem Out Of Nine (fake) Contributors' Notes. The Light Touch, Formal Intricacy And Attention To Whimsy That Have Helped Earn Muldoon International Fame Are All In Evidence Here; It Makes For A Cohesive Collection, Open To All The Usual Arguments About What's Really Best--also Always Part Of The Fun. (sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.