too sexy for iran

Publisher's Weekly has a list of its best book choices for 2008, which is dominated by fiction, but also includes a few poetry books. Two of them are on my wish list: the new WS Merwin and Kevin Prufer's National Anthem. The list is here.

When the hoopla went down about the Swede who disparaged American literature as being too tangled up in its own mass culture to deserve a Nobel Prize, I immediately thought of WS Merwin, who is timeless, concerned and perfectly pitched. When I read him I feel as though a ghost is passing through me. Later on I also thought of Cormac McCarthy and a couple other folks. But I also think there is a lot of poetry and "literature" out there that's too hip for its own good.

I can't believe November is already ticking. I'm going to start my own best-of list soon.