“This ambitious anthology from critic and translator Stavans (Dictionary Days) attempts to introduce North American readers to the great strengths and the variety of Latin American modernity in verse . . . While Stavans translates many poems himself, many more are reprinted from extant versions by famous names: Mark Strand, Elizabeth Bishop, Eliot Weinberger, Ursula K. Le Guin. Presented in facing-page format, Stavans's anthology inclines to the accessible; specialists may be frustrated by a few points, but Stavans aims, instead, to bring a whole tree of poems and traditions to U.S. readers who do not know it well.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The translations—by a new generation of Russian American poets—are consistently wonderful. Rachel Cohen's essay concisely and brilliantly describes the Futurists, the Formalists, the Acmeists, and the Symbolists-all artistic groups surrounding Mayakovsky. The book further explores Mayakovsky's relationships with Lili Brik and Tatiana Yakovleva, explains his propaganda work, and addresses his mixture of the surreal, the lyric, and the sarcastic . . . Encompassing the excitement and glory of the revolution's generation."—Gene Shaw, Library Journal