Lee Foust


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Lee Foust

Goodreads Author


Born
in Oakland, California, The United States
Website

Twitter

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Member Since
October 2012


I am an author, raconteur, and performer, i come from California with a drum on my back, i live in Naples, Italy, the sun's so hot i froze to death and i want to write a story that will make you cry if you will only listen, oh.
http://www.leefoust.com/index.html
http://leefoust.blogspot.com/

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Lee Foust Absolutely! _Inbetween_ is the first of a thematic trilogy of novels I've been working on for the last 33 years inspired by Dante's _Commedia_. the se…moreAbsolutely! _Inbetween_ is the first of a thematic trilogy of novels I've been working on for the last 33 years inspired by Dante's _Commedia_. the second novel of the set is edited and ready to go. It's called _Here Lies: the Remains of Francesco Castello, AKA Borromini_ and is the first-person narrative of the Baroque architect in purgatory telling his life story and wrestling with the concept of salvation and submission to God's judgement against his own individualistic, artistic temperament. The third installment, _The Three Living Meet the Three Dead_, is a novel-in-frames not unlike Boccaccio's _Decameron_ in which I retell the medieval myth of the three wealthy hunters who encounter three corpses at the crossroads who admonish the rich for their worldly vanity. In my version, the six set up camp and tell stories to each other for 7 nights, tales dedicated thematically to the seven celestial spheres a la Dante's _Paradiso_. Written to completion, with a few of the stories already published in journals, it'll take some editing before it's ready for publication. See my website for links to the tales already published: http://www.leefoust.com/publications.... (less)
Lee Foust Hiya back. In terms of the kind of thing I think you're getting at, a mix of experimentalism, horror, and human condition drama, I love authors Kathy …moreHiya back. In terms of the kind of thing I think you're getting at, a mix of experimentalism, horror, and human condition drama, I love authors Kathy Acker, Chris Krauss, Alison Rumfitt, Shirley Jackson, and Hubert Selby Jr. with special mention for old favorites like _Wuthering Heights_ and Mathew Lewis's gothic classic _The Monk_. Even the Roman novel by Apuleius _The Golden Ass_ has some surprising takes on the human condition. For straight up macabre-type horror I'm a big fan of Poe and Arthur Machon, as well as Lovecraft and Bloch and Matheson--all pretty standard for my generation I guess as a monster kid of the 1970s. I do love me some _Twin Peaks_ and David Lynch in general so I appreciate your persona! Cheers, mate! PS Hadn't yet seen your comment when I wrote this so some is redundant. You seem far more versed in contemp horror than me so hat's off! I did enjoy _The Cypher_ by Kathe Koja but for sure you should look into Alison Rumfitt!(less)
Average rating: 4.21 · 33 ratings · 23 reviews · 11 distinct works
Sojourner

4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions
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Poison and Antidote

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions
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Inbetween

4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings2 editions
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Fake Novel

4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2020
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Two Wheels on Whitewashed H...

4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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Sojourner (Collected Poetry...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Poison and Antidote: Bohemi...

it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Here Lies: The Remains of F...

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San Salvi

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings2 editions
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The Three Living Meet the T...

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J

This is chapter excerpted from my upcoming childhood memoir Fossil Hill Ridge. As I was writing about the lost world of childhood the sudden demise of a dear friend intruded and sparked some meditations on memory, place, and loss. It links up to an earlier chapter in which I surveyed the landscape of the first 25 years of my life from the top of Russian Hill in San Francisco, from which you can se

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Published on March 05, 2026 00:54
Small Things Like...
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The Dud Avocado
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Lee Foust is on page 23 of 260 of The Dud Avocado
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
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Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
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Lee Foust and 136 other people liked Fionnuala's review of Small Things Like These:
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
"What happens when a person follows their conscience even though society tells them to look the other way? That is the nub of this little novella, told in such a pared back fashion that you'd almost be tricked into underestimating the punch it carries" Read more of this review »
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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Goodreads Author)
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I suppose rather than being as mediocre as I want to proclaim it, this genre novel just isn't aimed at a reader like me. Since I'm something of an aficionado of--if not an expert on--Gothic lit., I thought it was, but Moreno-Garcia is quite self-cons ...more
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St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
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These tales, although super inventive and well-written, were an uneasy attempt to blend the marvelous with the Joycean epiphany. It's harder to reveal a character's inner life when that character is, say, a Minotaur. There's something about the inven ...more
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The Bewitched by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly
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Mexican Gothic
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The Last American by John Ames Mitchell
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More of Lee's books…
Simone Weil
“The world is the closed door. It is a barrier. And at the same time it is the way through.

Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but it is also their means of communication. … Every separation is a link.”
Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

Curzio Malaparte
“The price of freedom is high — far higher than that of slavery. And it is not paid in gold, nor in blood, nor in the most noble sacrifices, but in cowardice, in prostitution, in treachery, and in everything that is rotten in the human soul.”
Curzio Malaparte, The Skin

Alexander Theroux
“Draft-dodging is what chicken-hawks do best. Dick Cheney, Glenn Beck, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh (this capon claimed he had a cyst on his fat ass), Newt Gingrich, former Attorney General John Ashcroft—he received seven deferments to teach business education at Southwest Missouri State—pompous Bill O’Reilly, Jeb Bush, hey, throw in John Wayne—they were all draft-dodgers. Not a single one of these mouth-breathing, cowardly, and meretricious buffoons fought for his country. All plumped for deferments. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani? Did not serve. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney? Did not serve in the military. (He served the Mormon Church on a thirty-month mission to France.) Former Senator Fred Thompson? Did not serve. Former President Ronald Reagan? Due to poor eyesight, he served in a noncombat role making movies for the Army in southern California during WWII. He later seems to have confused his role as an actor playing a tail gunner with the real thing. Did Rahm Emanuel serve? Yes, he did during the Gulf War 1991—in the Israeli Army. John Boehner did not serve, not a fucking second. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY? Not a minute! Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-MS? Avoided the draft. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-AZ—did not serve. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn, R-TX—did not serve. Former Senate Republican Policy Committee Chair John Ensign, R-NV? Did not serve. Jack Kemp? Dan Quayle? Never served a day. Not an hour. Not an afternoon. These are the jackasses that cherish memorial services and love to salute and adore hearing “Taps.”
Alexander Theroux

Angela Carter
“Okay, I write overblown, purple, self-indulgent prose. So fucking what?”
Angela Carter

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message 11: by Lee

Lee Foust Majenta wrote: "Hello, Lee! Friend Request Accepted, thanks for Requesting! Congratulations on your books. I hope you're having a great weekend and a great Summer 2016. Happy reading, writing, and everything else...."

Majenta, what a very sweet note. I, too, hope you are thriving and thank you for the wonderful wishes. May I ask are you the Majenta that I used to know in NYC back in the 1990s? Just curious. --Lee


message 10: by Majenta

Majenta Hello, Lee! Friend Request Accepted, thanks for Requesting! Congratulations on your books. I hope you're having a great weekend and a great Summer 2016. Happy reading, writing, and everything else. Blessings!

Best wishes from Majenta


message 9: by Lee

Lee Foust This just went up today, a guest entry i wrote for a friend and fellow writer's blog, explaining a bit what's in my book Sojourner.

http://survivinginitaly.com/2014/04/0...


Scribble Orca Happy New Year, Lee - all the best for 2014!


message 7: by Lee

Lee Foust Received Gaddis' Recognitions and JR in the mail today: herniated postperson.


message 6: by Lee

Lee Foust In case you want to keep up/be informed of my other writing and literature projects you can Find them here: https://www.facebook.com/Lee.Foust.Li... (You can also friend me on facebook--I'm not proud.)


message 5: by Lee

Lee Foust I brought so many books home to Florence from the States this summer... I'm drowning in first page reads. The water is lovely but it's time to get past an introduction and read something.


message 4: by Lee

Lee Foust A new short story by yours truly on the theme of justice, the Papacy, corruption and worldly power. Straight outta history. http://leefoust.blogspot.it/2013/04/t...


Scribble Orca Ciao, grazie per l'invito. Mi dispiace che prendevo cosi tanto tempo per rispondere. Civediamo!


message 2: by Kris

Kris Thank you so much for the friend request, Lee. I'm so glad to get to read more of your reviews, and to discuss common interests, including medieval studies! :)


message 1: by Lee

Lee Foust http://pinterest.com/leefoust/books-a...

A visual/textual meditation upon writers and their art. Check it out, join in!


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