Poetry Books In Publication Order
- Lucky Wreck (2006)
- This Big Fake World (2006)
- Sharks in the Rivers (2010)
- Bright Dead Things (2015)
- The Carrying (2018)
Poetry Book Covers
Ada Limon Books Overview
Lucky Wreck
The winner of the 2005 Autumn House Poetry Prize, selected by Jean Valentine.
This Big Fake World
At the heart of Ada Limon’s This Big Fake World is a story that revolves around the book’s unlikely Hero, a man in a gray suit; the object of his affection, known only as The Hardware Store Lady; and his friend Lewis, the town drunk, who compulsively writes letters to Ronald Reagan. Limon takes these seemingly ordinary people, all longing for love and connection in a world that seems completely indifferent to them, and through her extraordinary wit and imagination, transforms them into the compelling sort of characters rarely found in contemporary poetry. Winner of the 2005 Pearl Poetry Prize, this is Limon’s second book of poetry.
Sharks in the Rivers
The speaker in this extraordinary collection finds herself multiply dislocated: from her childhood in California, from her family’s roots in Mexico, from a dying parent, from her prior self. The world is always in motion &151; both toward and away from us&151;and it is also full of risk: from sharks unexpectedly lurking beneath estuarial rivers to the dangers of New York City, where, as Limon reminds us, even rats find themselves trapped by the garbage cans they’ve crawled into. In such a world, how should one proceed? Throughout Sharks in the Rivers, Limon suggests that we must cleave to the world as it &147;keep[s opening before us,’ for, if we pay attention, we can be one with its complex, ephemeral, and beautiful strangeness. Loss is perpetual, and each person’s mouth &147;is the same / mouth as everyone’s, all trying to say the same thing.’ For Limon, it’s the saying&151;individual and collective &151; that transforms each of us into &147;a wound overcome by wonder,’ that allows &147;the wind itself’ to be our &147;own wild whisper.’