Foley's latest collection culminates in a powerful sequence of poems that look at age, mortality, loss, failure, disappointment, and envy with unflinching honesty, wry humor and, ultimately, affirmation. Autumn Beguiles the Fatalist retains the qualities praised in Michael Foley's earlier poetry - disconcerting candor, rhythmic vitality, mordant wit, and readability. Of Foley's earlier works: