Fox & I
Ratings5
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings5
Average rating4.1
A wild fox befriends a solitary woman at her home in Montana, and their relationship transforms them both in this inspiring, surprising, and often funny memoir. Both a new window onto the natural world and the introduction of a remarkable literary talent.Catherine Raven left home at 15, fleeing an abusive, disdainful father and an indifferent mother. More at home in nature than among people, she worked for many years as a National Parks ranger, eventually earning a Ph.D. in biology while working as a janitor and living in her car (which lacked a reverse gear) or on abandoned construction sites. She built a house on an isolated plot of land in Montana, teaching remotely and leading field courses in the National Parks. One day, she realized that the mangy-looking fox who had been appearing on her property was now showing up every day at 4:15, positioning himself near a lone forget-me-not near the house. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? One day she brought out her camping chair, sat as near to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince. Her scientific training had taught her not to anthropomorphize animals, yet as she grew to know him, his personality revealed itself--and he became her friend. But friends cannot always save each other from the uncontained forces of nature. Fox and I is also a poignant and dramatic tale of coping with inevitable loss and how that loss can be transformed into meaning. An uplifting, fable-like true story, it not only reveals the power of friendship and our interconnectedness with the natural world but introduces an original, imaginative, stunning new literary voice.
Reviews with the most likes.
Unusual, kind of like something from a slightly different dimension, or as if Raven's voice is rotated a few degrees away from the world I'm used to. Not difficult to read, just ... expect occasional disconnects. For a certain kind of person — someone who can appreciate wildness without romanticizing it, who understands that life is messy, who can accept that scientific objectivity and personal attachment are not incompatible — totally worth it.
The author befriends a fox. Said fox befriends the author. It's not a storybook relationship nor a lovy-dovey woofy-pet one, more a gradual exploration of each other, of boundaries and comfort zones, converging into a mutually respectful bond. And, damn, it's a real one: Raven may have her tics and quirks, but she knows her way around feelings. Their friendship is a moving one, with missteps and triumphs and regrets. And there's much more: personal memoir, natural history, and Raven's rich wildlife observations.
Fox and I is the memoir of a solitary woman living in a remote location. Raven is bright and is a beautiful writer. She works at low-paying, temporary jobs and she has little contact with people.
Then Raven meets Fox. Fox is an ordinary male fox who begins to wander up to Raven's cabin every afternoon at 4:15. Fox sits and listens as Raven reads aloud and speaks to him. It becomes clear that a friendship between the woman and the fox is developing.
Fox & I is a story that centers on the relationship between a lonely woman and a wolf. It's not a straight narrative, but a discursive collection of hundreds of meandering brief essays on the thoughts that come into the mind of the author. Some of these little essays were interesting to me, but many of them were not. All of it is beautifully written, though much feels a little overwritten.
