Fox & I
by
31/99
Critics' Rating Index
22/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
84/99
Volume of Reviews
83/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
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About This Book
An "extraordinary" (Oprah Daily) memoir about the friendship between a solitary woman and a wild fox. When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She was as emotionally isolated as she was physically, but she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brought out her camping chair, sat as close 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 they became friends. From the fox, Catherine learned the single most important thing about loneliness: we are never alone when we are connected to the natural world. Friends, however, cannot save each other from the uncontained forces of nature. Fox and I is a poignant and remarkable tale of friendship, growth, and coping with inevitable loss—and of how that loss can be transformed into meaning. It is both a timely tale of solitude and belonging as well as a timeless story of one woman whose immersion in the natural world will change the way we view our surroundings—each tree, weed, flower, stone, or fox.
Reviews
"What emotional vocabulary can express both the joy and the doubts she experienced devoting copious time and love to a wild creature?"
"Fox & I is infused with classical references, botanical, biological and geological explorations, and deep intellectual and emotional theorizing about her time in the wilderness and her remarkable contact with Fox ..."
"Along with reverently describing her furry friend—who had a "face so innocent that you would have concluded that he never stalked a bluebird, let alone dismembered one"—Raven writes poetically about the flora ("my sun-worshipping tenants") and fauna around her."
"The book is described as enabling readers to experience animals in a new and marvelous way."
"A soulful and indelible exploration of an interspecies friendship."
"By the end of Fox & I, I found myself deeply lonely for the kind of belonging Raven found on the land."
"Raven is sometimes reticent to a fault ..."
"A heartfelt meditation on the power of nature and a touching homage to a beloved wild friend."
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