Books like Half-light by Frank Bidart

Frank Bidart’s *Half‑light: Collected Poems 1965‑2017* gathers his most celebrated work, offering a dramatic transmutation of the body into language. The collection presents a wide range of voices—from the child‑murderer Herbert White to the obsessive anorexic Ellen West, the tormented genius Vaslav Nijinsky, and Bidart himself—showing the poet’s willingness to confront the darkest corners of the human psyche. The volume also introduces *Thirst*, a new collection in which Bidart introspects his own life with austere honesty and continues his search for meaning, describing himself as a “Creature coterminous with thirst.” Across the pages, Bidart’s poetics match the chaos and appetites of contemporary experience, creating a visionary, revelatory, and intimate dialogue with human nature. Overall, *Half‑light* is a radical confrontation with human nature, reexamining conflict line by line and inviting readers into a restless, unguarded poetic journey.

First publish date: 2017