Description

Bright Dead Things

Bright Dead Things, a collection of poems by Ada Limón, has garnered critical acclaim and recognition as a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. This powerful collection delves into the exhilarating yet precarious experience of living in a world that we ultimately have to leave behind. While also exploring the profound search for something disorderly, marvelous, and uniquely our own.

Limón’s fourth collection of poetry is a testament to her boldness. Introspection, and unapologetic feminist perspective. Within these pages, readers will encounter a compelling blend of confidence and vulnerability. The poet grapples with the complexities of identity formation through the lens of place and human connection. The poems intimately trace the speaker’s journey from the bustling streets of New York City to the tranquil landscapes of rural Kentucky. Navigating the loss of a beloved parent, the inevitable passage of time. And the transformative power of love.

Bright Dead Things

Limón’s poetic voice wears its heart on its sleeve and in this collection. Her heart becomes a pulsating, genius machine, yearning to embrace and comprehend the richness of the present moment fully. The poet’s influences, including famous figures such as Frank O’Hara, Sharon Olds, and Mark Doty, are evident in her work, yet she manages to carve out her distinct style. Her poems are characterized by their generosity, accessibility, and effortless lyricism, as noted by the New York Times. However, beneath the surface simplicity lies a complexity of thought, emotion, and lived experience, making each observed moment resonate deeply with readers.

Praise

“Limón’s work is destined to find a place with readers on the strength of her voice alone. Her intensity here is paradoxically set against the often slow burn of life in Kentucky, and the results will please readers.”―Flavorwire

“Poet and Critic Stephen Burt says, ‘Prose sense is to poetry as tonality is to music.’ And I see that sense of prose cushioned in each poem included in this leguminous compilation. The works wear complexity on their sleeves with reassuring accessibility on their faces; to say it more succinctly, there’s a tough grilling of the soul and champagnes served to the measure of each one’s taste.”―The Rumpus

Reviews

“A masterpiece.”―Shondaland

“In Bright Dead Things, there’s a fierce jazz and sass (‘this life is a fist / of fast wishes caught by nothing, / but the fishhook of tomorrow’s tug’) and there’s sadness―a grappling with death and loss that forces the imagination to a deep response. The radio in her new, rural home warns ‘stay safe and seek shelter’ and yet the heart seeks love, risk, and strangeness―and finds it everywhere.”―Gregory Orr

“Limón doesn’t write as if she needs us. She writes as if she wants us. Her words reveal, coax, pull, and see us. In Bright Dead Things we read desire, ache, what human beings rarely have the heart or audacity to speak of alone―without the help of a poet with the most generous of eyes.”―Nikky Finney

“Limón does far more than merely reflect the world: she continually transforms it, thereby revealing herself as an everyday symbolist and high-level duende enabler. At the end of one poem, she writes, ‘What the heart wants? The heart wants / her horses back,’ and suddenly even this most urban reader feels wild and free.”―Matthew Zapruder

Thoughts

“Both soft and tender, enormous and resounding, her poetic gestures entrance and transfix.”―Richard Blanco

“In her newest volume of poems, Limón delves into the divided self―self separated by geography, by loss, by chance, by circumstance. . . . Generous of heart, intricate and accessible, the poems in this book are wondrous and deeply moving.”―Library Journal (starred review)

“A poet whose verse exudes warmth and compassion, Limón is at the height of her creative powers, and Bright Dead Things is her most gorgeous book of poems.”―Los Angeles Review of Books

“Richly written and felt.”―Publishers Weekly