Three of Foust's poems were featured in the winter 2009 (volume 43, issue 1) edition of
The Laurel Review:
The Only Poem,
Promotional, and
Frost at Midnight. Foust's work was also chosen by Robert Creeley for the
Beyond Arcadia issue of
Conjunctions. Foust's third book,
Necessary Stranger, was described as "intense, hip, ironic and subtly humorous" in
Publishers Weekly, and in December 2007 reached third place on the small-press poetry best-seller list. His fourth book,
A Mouth in California, received a starred review in
Publishers Weekly, which noted that Foust had "achieved a wide reputation in and beyond experimental poetry circles for his clipped, breathless poems, often no longer than one or two haiku, but packing an intimate punch that belies their length." Foust has cited
Rae Armantrout as an influence; Armantrout pronounced herself "quite pleased" with that, saying she was "very fond of [Foust's] work", but considered Foust to have a distinctive style: "Foust's poems are minimalist, yes, more so than mine, in fact, but his sensibility is very much his own." A review of
A Mouth in California in the
Oxonian Review characterised Foust's work as "bleak, funny, curt, and self-effacing", informed by the understanding that "everyday speech, set slightly out of joint or context, can deliver both personal and collective revelation. [...] Foust [...] doesn’t take himself too seriously, yet he’s a seriously good poet. [...] And best of all, Foust is subtle." ==Bibliography==