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About Me
Biography
I am Mike Fiorito. The guy in the photo on the left.
I am the author of The Hated Ones, Falling from Trees, Sleeping with Fishes, Call Me Guido, Freud’s Haberdashery Habits and Hallucinating Huxley.
Falling from Trees received the 2022 Independent Press Distinguished Book Award (in the short story category).
My latest book Mescalito Riding His White Horse, inspired by the music of bluegrass legend Peter Rowan, is scheduled to be released in late 2022.
I am also an Associate Editor for Mad Swirl Magazine and a regular contributor to the Red Hook Star Revue.
I am currently working on a novel.
Below you'll find reviews of my books along with links to purchase.
Thanks for stopping by!
Mescalito Riding His Whitehorse
"Wow! [Mescalito] is beautiful. I’m touched that you 'got' it!"
–Peter Rowan
"The visionary music of bluegrass songster Peter Rowan captured Mike Fiorito's attention leading him on a deep spiritual trek. Rowan tells of his mentors from Bill Monroe to Harry Smith, Buddha and beyond. Mescalito is Fiorito’s gripping narrative of his journey into a new musical consciousness."
–Dr. Neil Rosenberg, Professor Emeritus, Department of Folklore at
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, and author of Bluegrass Generation
"In Mescalito Riding His White Horse, Mike Fiorito creates one of the greatest music interviews ever. His poetic prose and personal anecdotes bring a wonderful sparkle to Peter Rowan’s musical and spiritual odyssey. From Buddhism to the intelligence of birds, and from psychedelic rock to the history of bluegrass, this short book is an inspiring meditation on music, life, and everything in between. But most importantly, what makes this book special is, in essence, what Mike so eloquently describes it to be, an attempt to discover “the source of what it is to be human.”
–Anthony Peake, author of The Hidden Universe (https://www.anthonypeake.com/)
"This wide-ranging book is obviously a labor of love: love of music and love of and admiration for Peter Rowan. Along the way the reader is showered with anecdotes from the author's interviews and introduced to the soul lurking in the depths of Rowan’s compositions and varied delivery styles. Who would have guessed that Asian spiritual philosophy and wisdom to be found in Bluegrass music and its derivatives? For anyone interested in gaining an in-depth acquaintance and knowledge of legendary musician Peter Rowan and the music he composed and performed, this book cannot be recommended highly enough."
–Dr. Art Funkhouser, Jungian psychotherapist (https://arthur.funkhouser.ch/en/)
"You did a great job with the book! Really got to the heart of Peter’s vibe."
–Christopher Henry, former member of The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band (https://www.noyamountainmusic.com/about-chris-henry/)
"Fiorito’s prose reaches for a visionary register and frequently finds it."
-Kirkus Review
You can pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/180341118X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3
Here's the publisher's site:
Scheduled to publish in April 2023.
The Hated Ones
"Fiorito’s descriptive style has a suitably blunt, pithy honesty."
- Kirkus Reviews
"There is hope and there is escape to be found on a road that can be violent and vicious. Proceed with caution when reading The Hated Ones. But proceed. By all means, proceed. "
-New York Journal of Books
Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Hated-Ones-VIA-Folios/dp/1599541742/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WADSDA3JGXZTXNGSHDSY
Falling from Trees
Recipient of the 2022 Independent Press Distinguished Book Award for short stories.
"Falling from Trees is a collection of otherworldly tales from Fiorito. This set of loosely connected stories touches on a wide range of timely and universal topics via science-fictional elements...readers will largely find it entertaining. The stories run the gamut from fully realized works to quick, slice-of-life glimpses of characters...an often engaging short story cycle."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Fiorito's prose is magical, evocative, mesmerizing."
-New York Journal of Books
Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Trees-Mike-Fiorito/dp/1627203338/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Sleeping with Fishes
"Fiorito’s prose is crisp and full of personality. If it sometimes drifts into a sentimental register, the writing never feels inauthentic to his voice. These 23 essays are short, often under five pages, and range from journalistic pieces about individuals or businesses to ruminations on the immigrant experience and humorous reimaginings of a secret cabal of pizza makers stretching back to Jesus. The strongest essays are those dealing with the author’s family, particularly his mother, who steps off the page as a larger-than-life devil’s advocate, seeming to dispute or complicate every point her son tries to make. Italian Americans, particularly those of Fiorito’s generation, will likely find much here to relate to, laugh at, and maybe even mourn."
-Kirkus Reviews
Call Me Guido
Mike Fiorito’s Call Me Guido, is a poignant, sometimes painful, often hilarious collection of stories about growing up Italian in Queens, New York. It’s filled with rich dialogue and recollections of family interactions that carry us below the surface, and surprises we can’t help but love, like his tale “Because of You”, about his odd Uncle Tutti, who turns out to be the superstar Tony Bennett, or his hard working mother, “ a tribe, a history of her family”, and of course his father, a gambler, opinionated, historian, and a complex mix that makes a relationship of father and son seem totally impossible to characterize, and yet Michael does, captivating us all along the way. I love this book!-- Louisa Calio, author of Journey to the Heart Waters
Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733994807/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4
Freud's Haberdashery Habit
“Freud’s Haberdashery” is a collection of pseudo-historical narratives that portray towering intellectual figures but focus on satire and humor: Jung and Freud sharing haberdashery secrets; Kant's obsession with order and eating cheese; Filippo Brunelleschi consorting with a nose oracle to win the Santa Maria Del Fiore cupola commission and other stories.
Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V398PYV?fbclid=IwAR2tQlCVaWSwMa9GBDbt-U21INzu5-_X4sKa0MMU_i1iya_B4V1iON9theA
Hallucinating Huxley
Hallucinating Huxley, a follow-up to Freud’s Haberdashery Habit, is a collection of fantastic tales. Like an Escher painting, many of the stories connect into each other through impossible pathways and portals. Here Gnostic Hounds, meta-physicians, Alien Buddhas and other holy beings navigate multidimensional time and space. And at the center of this bizarre universe is Aldous Huxley, writer, philosopher and social critic, who saw far into the future by looking deep into the past.
Purchase here: