The Vintage book of contemporary American poetry cover

The Vintage book of contemporary American poetry

by J. D. McClatchy

This book is a newly revised and expanded collection of poems from seventy-five of America's iconic poets of the past half-century, from Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery and Adrienne Rich, to Robert Haas and Louise Gluck, Sharon Olds and Mark Doty, from Sylvia Plath to Heather McHugh to Yusef Komunyakaa. It gathers together poetry from every region of the country and from the past fifty years.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?