The insomniac speakers in Halflife are coming of age in a mythical world full of threat and promise. Seeking their true selves amid the fallen cathedrals of America, they speak wryly of destructive love affairs, aesthetic obsession, and encroaching war, but refuse to abandon hope in the power of imagination.

About the Author
Meghan O'Rourke is the author of the collections Sun in Days, Halflife, and Once, as well as a memoir, The Long Goodbye. A former editor at The New Yorker, she has served as culture editor and literary critic for Slate, poetry editor for the Paris Review, and is currently the editor of The Yale Review. Her poems and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Poetry, the New Republic, and Poetry, among others. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Radcliffe Fellowship, and other awards, she lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews
"Fiercely and fearlessly rich, her lines burn like encaustic: 'the burning thing.'" -- John Ashbery
"An impressive first collection, Halflife is a box full of surprises and intense delights." -- Billy Collins
"Concise, sophisticated poems...immediate magic." -- Katie Peterson - Chicago Tribune



Book Information
ISBN 9780393333176
Author Meghan O'Rourke
Format Paperback
Page Count 88
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 120g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 142mm * 8mm