This is an anthology of the works of 26 contemporary Jewish American Poets. The format of the book, however, is somewhat unusual. Each of the poets in the book chose a single poem to be included and followed the poem with an essay or "commentary" about it. The commentarys themselves vary in form from a whimsical four line verse by Charles Bernstein to lengthy essays.

The poems vary in styles from very traditional verse to modern free poetry. As to be expected, the poets bring different convictions and perspectives to their appointed task of illustrating the variety and the purpose underling "Jewish American Poetry." As more than one poet and commentator points out, each of these words themselves will bear lengthy exploration: what is "American" what is "Jewish", possibly most importantly "what is poetry and why write it or read it". Many of the poems are reflections on Jewish tradition, family, the Holocaust, the pressures and challenges of modern materialistic secular (again, what is that?) culture, and, an apparently never-ending topic of debate, feminism. Woemen and their varied issues within Judaism and well represented in the choice of poets. The poets and commentaries vary widely in quality. My favorites include the poems of Anthony Hecht, Maxine Kumin, C.K. Williams, and Eleanor Winer though each reader will make his or her own choice.

In addition to the poems and commentaries, the book includes a good introduction by the editors and several essays. The essays vary in subject matter and quality. I found very helpful the essays by Steven Rubin and Michael Heller on the history of American poetry in the 20th Century and how the poetry written by American Jews both comments upon and takes issue with the broader trends in American poetry. Some of the feminist oriented essays were too shrill and tangentially related to the poems in the book for my liking and were also, perhaps, overly technical for people coming to poetry for the first time. There were essays on the Jewish mystical tradition, particularly the Shekhina or feminine aspect of God, but these essays seemed to have little directly to do with the poetry offered in the book. The essay on Yiddish poetry and the essays on the perils and virtues of translation were very good.

I would have rather seen more than one poem by each of the poets in the collection. As it is, the representation of each poet is too thin to give much an idea of the tenor of their work. As a related point, there is too much talk in the book and not enough poetry. The essays are useful to a degree, but I suggest that this book be read in conjunction with Steven Rubin's (the author of a good historical essay in the book) anthology of Jewish American poetry, Telling and Remembering, which includes a much more generous selection of poets and poems and less in the way of gratuitous or questionable essaying.