Poetry. A MOUTH IN CALIFORNIA, Graham Foust's fourth book of poetry, uses the ironies and anxieties of contemporary life as a foil for mordant and sometimes violent humor. Through mangled aphorisms, misheard song lyrics, and off-key phrasing, Foust creates a unique idiom of tragicomic pratfalls, a ballet of falling down. Yet the elasticity of Foust's language repels the stiff-necked adversaries of thought: "what's the wrong way to break / that brick of truth back into music?"

Author Hometown: OAKLAND, CA USA



About the author: Graham Foust was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The author of four books of poetry, including A MOUTH IN CALIFORNIA (Flood Editions, 2009) NECESSARY STRANGER (Flood Editions, 2007), he lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and children and teaches at Saint Mary's College of California.

Reviews:
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Ange Mlinko @ The Nation
Ray McDaniel @ The Constant Critic
interview by Paul Ebenkamp @ Studio One Reading Series