Poem selection is average. Aesthetically, the translations are merely passable. (At one point he quote's Amy Lowell's version of a Buson poem, which only has the unintended consequence of making his appear inferior.) But the real problem here are the notes.

Whether it requires it or not, each poem is accompanied by a paragraph or more of only marginally useful notes. Well, notes is probably not entirely correct, as that would suggest that they help to explain the meaning of obscure terms or references. Sometimes, perhaps even the majority of the time, they do. (His note on Basho's famous helmet/cricket poem is an example of a good one, for instance.) But a decent amount of the time they serve as little more than an excuse for the author to meander off on whatever tangent the poem has reminded him of — his travels, his life, what he thinks the poet was feeling at the time. Often this is interwoven into the insightful bits, but sometimes the notes serve no purpose but this meandering stream of consciousness.

Eventually, somewhere in the section on Issa, I just stopped reading them. My enjoyment of the collection went up after that.

My final verdict? Find another anthology instead. ( )