The Smell of Good Mud

This book. Buy it. If you have ever been sad, if you have ever been happy, if you have ever been bolder than you believed you could be, you need "The Smell of Good Mud."Lauren's book can go **anywhere** -- you can read it on a bus, you can read it to a baby, you can give your best friend love advice out of it, you can give yourself life advice out of it. This book is a tool of empowerment in being alive. It's not easy, Lauren doesn't pretend that it is, but she's carefully pressed moments between sheets of wax paper for you to absorb in the quiet moments of your need of something covered in beauty. I read this book when I need to be reminded that breathing every day is enough, that dried dirt on your hardworking hands is a monument, that everything is perfect simply because it IS. It's IS-ness is what makes it perfect and profound and gorgeous. The only way this book could be better is if Lauren came along with it to sing all her poems for you out loud. Buy this book, bring it home, read it on your roof, and be happy.

Spoken Word Poetry is and always will be my favorite way to listen. I like it when I first hear the poem and think I get it and then listen again and realize that there are so many levels to them. "The Smell Of Good Mud", is a book packed full of emotion and how feeling it can make the difference, how being honest and vulnerable is awesome. Lauren Zuniga is excellent at what she does and it's refreshing that she wants to share it all with us. Read it and I promise you won't be disappointed.

As a progressive living in the heart of the Tea Party world, Zuniga's poems hold a refreshing honesty and a touching vulnerability. She speaks beautifully, and her stage presence can be felt even through the page. She possesses a rare talent to make the common sacred and causes the reader to constantly give a second look. Fresh and forward-reaching, this book is an investment in your capacity to feel and, I believe, one you will not regret.

I don't read a lot of poetry, but I slipped right into this collection as if it weren't the first poetry book I bought for pleasure. Lauren has laid out her words in English, but in an English that I don't speak but can start to understand. It all smelled of good mud to me. Thanks for the pleasure, Lauren. I think I'll track down a paperback version now.

I have been a fan of Ms. Zuniga for the past year or so, and I was tickled pink to see that she was releasing this book. And once it arrived it did not disappoint.I am an evolutionary biologist, and I usually read scientific texts, but this is so accessible and feels like my feelings have been poured out onto the page.Worth every penny!!

Lauren's new book of poetry is engaging, uncompromising and refreshing. I learned of Lauren on YouTube [...] Jehs reading to the Oklahoma Lawmakers. I'm a political guy, so this poem speaks to me, makes a woman's issue real to me in a way political conversation cannot. I find this kind of insight throughout the book. Thank you, Lauren.

I'm so glad I bought The Smell of Good Mud. This is the first book I've read by Lauren Zuniga. It was recommended by a friend, so I ordered it without knowing much about her poetry. Believe you me, I will definitely be checking out more of her work. If you're a feminist, then this book won't disappoint.

This book knows what it's like to live in a conservative, rural town and not belong. This book knows how to use the nitty gritty details of everyday life to make you feel. This is a book to read again and again. Seriously. Read it.

This book is gold; a treat for artists and readers alike. Enjoy discovering Lauren Zuniga.

Beautiful book with lush imagery and goosebump inducing lines. Poems you can read over agin and still get more from them.

This book is fantastic. Her poems can make you feel overwhelmingly angry, peaceful, sad or joyful. Lovely edition as well.

Inspirational

I really loved this book.