Michael Faudet

// Received an advance reader copy in exchange of a fair review //

"Love is a little like religion. You need to have faith before miracles can happen."


this is just full of heartbreaking truths that are just so dam beautiful.

I am trash for poetry books but I am more trash for Micheal Faudet poetry books. It's all so eye opening and makes me heart ache in all the right ways that I am surprised I am still breathing right now.


"poetry can only be written by the heart"… (más)

Smoke & Mirrors by Michael Faudet is the poet's third collection of published poetry. Faudet is a bit of a mystery and there is some question as to if he is actually a creation of Lang Leav. I don't subscribe to that explanation but there is a similarity between the two in writing and the fact that they are partners may add to that speculation. Faudet does seem to follow R.H. Sin in not providing personal information. The style of the three poets mentioned above does seem to follow the same format of short poems about a single loved one.

I read Faudet's Pretty Dirty Things last year and found that he had a talent for pushing limits without the reader knowing that he or she are crossing any. Faudet's poems do tend to be a bit longer than the two or three line "song lyric quotes" that have been unbelievably popular with the younger hip crowd. In this collection, there is a rather lengthy piece of prose near the middle. The prose is, again, like many poems, more of an adult fantasy story. Between the sex and love Faudet inserts quite a bit of vodka.

Some poems reach for more like "Freedom" and others like "Fame" are basically teenage dreams. "A Long Distance Relationship" is a prose poem chronicling the end of a relationship. In this poem, Faudet concludes with a statement outside of the poem much like a moral in a fable -- Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. Sometimes it just teaches us that we can live apart. Singling out my favorite would have to be the story "The Missing Sock." It's conclusion, although rather simple, is a small revelation of the truth.

Smoke and Mirrors is a well-mixed collection of prose and poetry. I was glad to see poems that were more than a few lines long and a variety of styles. The title poem was actually very good too which is a bit of a rarity. This is a collection that the younger crowd will enjoy. The success of this collection, again, is in the mix of poetry and prose and the rather adult subject matter will hold most readers attention or imagination.… (más)

Dirty Pretty Things by Michael Faudet is a best-selling collection of poetry. To be honest, the title pulled me in. I am not much for romantic poetry and I don't read erotica, but something in this book seemed to hold promise. The range of poetry is wide, to say the least, from cutesy to something the other side of candied vulgarity. From serious to sophomoric. Somewhere in that mix, I found what I liked. At times there was the thrill of being outside my comfort zone yet still other times it was over the top. It is easy to see why this would be a best seller. There is something for everyone in this collection -- from the meek to the overtly adventurous.

Some of the writing is inspired:

Second Chance

We kissed beneath the twisted trees,
our lips between the stars,
tiny ripples in a lake
this love, once lost,
is ours.

Some a bit “punk”

Perfume

Her perfume reminded me of freshly picked
flowers and sticky candy floss, mixed with
a gentle hint of debauchery

Risque

Curious girl

She was a curious girl,
who loved the smell
of old books,
chasing butterflies,
and touching herself
under the covers.

To

“Fuck me like you hate me” she purred, her lips curled up into a
teasing point.

The collection certainly has range and a style dependent on the tone -- from quality to the lowest common denominator. I liked perhaps 80% of what I read. It was not the subject matter that turned me off the other 20% but the method in which it was expressed. Faudet seemed to lower his writing style and quality when writing more primal and vulgar poems. It is like he turned from poet to a trashy romance novelist whenever he mentions panties. The socially acceptable is well written and at times beautiful. The more animal side of love, or lust, takes on a more sensational, shocking, and simplistic style of writing. I can’t tell if this is intentional or not, but it works. From an intellectual point of view, the writing pulls the reader in and periodically repulses him or her only to be pulled back in again. It is a repeating cycle through the collection where Faudet is playing with the reader or perhaps it is incidental. I am going to go with the former because it seems to tie the whole theme of relationships, vodka, loss, and renewal together very nicely.
… (más)