Review of the Day: Fox by Joyce Carol Oates

I would like to say that, as my friend @tedmurphy7 once told her, Joyce Carol Oates is a national treasure who continues to be a major writer willing to explore the dark themes of sexual violence toward women.

The book is, essentially, a very slow murder mystery. The story is told in first person narration that switches among a number of different characters. As is the nature of first person stories, it is not always clear how reliable these different narrators are. So, at the end of the story, you know that Francis Fox has been murdered, but it is unclear who the murderer is.

Fox is a book that very much lives in the minds of the characters, especially teacher Francis Fox, and the students he takes advantage of. The book takes place at the elite Langhorne academy and the book is very literary with frequent references to books and art. In particular, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, the writings and life of Edgar Allen Poe, and Balthus’ painting Therese Dreaming come up over and over again.

One note about the work of Balthus. He explored the theme of young women in provocative poses throughout his work, but he also was very interested in cats. Oates is also very much a cat person. I would like to close with a quote from an article by Mia Manzulli, who lived next door to Oates for a number of years:

An interesting chapter in Oates’s writing life are the four children’s books, each featuring a cat. Someone had given Come Meet Muffin to our children, thinking we would appreciate this connection to our neighbor. As far as I know, we never met Muffin, but one of her cats frequented our back patio. An intense ginger cat with searing green eyes, it would sit outside looking in. This cat seemed to be regarding our life intently, taking notes perhaps, making me (not a cat person) uncomfortable, definitely.

I wanted to believe that Oates knew we existed. While her cat clearly knew who we were, she never did. But I never stopped hoping for some chance encounter.

kindle and libro.fm audiobook. 640 pgs. 21 June 2025