Publishers and the publics they serve seem enthralled by the idea of ‘the best’. The best of what is ultimately less important than the superlative itself, which implies a rigorous screening process to isolate the most worthy material. Never mind that magazine and book publishers have already put writing through a brutal screening process with acceptance rates from .01 to 1 per cent. For readers whose schedules or temperaments prohibit them from doing the work themselves, a collection of ‘The Best’ can be useful and appealing.

In the US, the appeal is clear, as The Best American Poetry series released its seventeenth volume in September. The series has its own editor, David Lehman, who annually selects a guest editor for the volume (guest editors have recently included Lyn Hejinian, Yusef Komunyakaa, Robert Creeley and Rita Dove – a relatively wide range aesthetically, but not professionally, as all the guest editors have already achieved poetic fame). Each edition of The Best American Poetry includes seventy-five poems from magazines as well as explanatory and biographical notes from the seventy-five poets.