Fox

A Novel

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Max Meyers, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Kirsten Potter, Fred Berman, Matt Godfrey, Gail Shalan, Rebecca Lowman, Rachel L. Jacobs, Eunice Wong, Ina Barrón

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An “enthralling” (Los Angeles Times) and “remarkably engrossing” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) novel of literary and psychological suspense about the dark secrets that surface after the shocking disappearance of a charismatic, mercurial teacher at an elite boarding school—by legendary author Joyce Carol Oates

“Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written.”—Gillian Flynn
“I found it mesmerizing front to back.”—Michael Connelly
“I can’t remember the last time I read something so (darkly, disconcertingly) addictive.”—Rebecca Makkai
“An extraordinary novel . . . unlike any other mystery I’ve read.”—Joseph Finder
“Tom Ripley, eat your heart out.”—NPR
“A classic psychological suspense.”—People
“A dark, daring plunge into literary suspense . . . Oates dissects the predator-prey dynamic with merciless precision.”—The Seattle Times

A HARPER’S BAZAAR AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates’s Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox. Written in Oates’s trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery.

Disturbing, yet well worth the listen

FOX will not be for everyone because of the disturbing nature of this complex novel. I found it repulsive at first because Mr. Fox is a disgusting and reprehensible character. However, Joyce Carol Oats does a masterful job of weaving together the many characters and relevant modern social issues that the listener will be confronted with throughout the book. Not only is it a very detailed and critical view into modern society, it’s an excellent mystery and detective novel.

Tough Subject Matter!!!

Be warned that there are some parts that are just graphic enough to be quite disturbing and are there for the reader/listener to specifically imagine what is happening… As much as I appreciated this story and its educating us about child predators within our communities, not to ignore who they might be because of their positions, I really had a difficult time getting through several sections of the book. As for the actual narration, each of these performers did an amazing job of bringing their characters to life… The story will hit you hard and definitely make you think, long after you’ve finished the novel.

Ugh

This was so incredibly hard to listen to, for several reasons. Of course, it is well written that is beyond reproach, but the subject matter alone made it incredibly difficult. Also, the repetition, the endless repetition! And the non-resolution, which I’m sure mirrors real life, but it just frustrated me to no end. Go into this with your eyes wide open. You will not feel good at the end.

"Terrible beauty"

The subject, the molestation of prepubescent girls is difficult to say the least. To portray the

so dark but so good

Brutal to listen to as a parent of a child the age of the victims but crafted so well