cover image DOS Siglos de Poesia Mexicana: del XIX Al Fin del Milenio: Una Antologia

DOS Siglos de Poesia Mexicana: del XIX Al Fin del Milenio: Una Antologia

. Grupo Oceano, $0 (579pp) ISBN 978-970-651-488-2

Compiled by Mexican poet Argelles, this anthology of Mexican poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries includes works from 100 authors. With very few exceptions, the poems are given in their entirety, and both the index and page headings (which list author names) make the book easy to use. In his introduction, Argelles provides a tedious defense of anthologies and a description of the criteria that editors use in selecting poems; still, the criterion he used here remains vaguely defined. The poets include some of Mexico's most famous literary figures, such as Justo Sierra, Xavier Villaurrutia, and Rosario Castellanos, but very few of them are women. Moreover, academic audiences in the United States might expect more extensive context than Argelles provides in his perfunctory biographical notes, which include birth and death dates, educational background, and publications but no bibliographical information for the selected poems. Despite these weaknesses, the book is a significant contribution to the field of Mexican letters, especially since regional anthologies like Antologia potica: Poesia y m#sica taretense (Poetic Anthology: Poetry and Music from Taretan, Casa de la Cultura, 1998) generally predominate among collections of Mexican poetry. Recommended for academic libraries. Laura H. Barbas Rhoden, Wofford Coll., Spartanburg, SC