Fox: A Novel
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

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Vulture, Esquire, Publishers Weekly, Lit Hub, AV Club, AARP

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.
1146306992
Fox: A Novel
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

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Vulture, Esquire, Publishers Weekly, Lit Hub, AV Club, AARP

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.
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Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The acclaimed literary giant is back and better than ever. Disconcerting and dream-like, Fox is a hypnotic journey through the mind of a madman that you'll want to share with everyone you know.

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

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Vulture, Esquire, Publishers Weekly, Lit Hub, AV Club, AARP

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Utterly mesmeric.”The Guardian

“Remarkably engrossing . . . impressive and unsettling.”—Owen King, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“A classic psychological suspense . . . feels ripped from the headlines.”—People

“At the heart of her latest novel stands Francis Fox, a mysterious charmer who is nearly as protean as Oates, though—no offense to either novelist or character—profoundly more menacing. Tom Ripley, eat your heart out.”NPR

“This sprawling yet immersive novel is rich in suspense, diabolical secrets and psychological insight.”—The Economist

“A dark, daring plunge into literary suspense, and it’s absolutely chilling . . . Uneasy, unflinching and unforgettable, this is Oates at her most disturbing and masterful.”The Seattle Times

“Charming but mysterious English teacher . . . dead body . . . dogged detective . . . deep questions about what it means to be human . . . and Oates. Yes please.”—Esquire

“It’s no surprise [Oates has] written a big summer book. . . . Fox is poised to be the big escape a lot of us are looking for right about now.”—The Boston Globe

“Enthralling . . . chilling . . . Oates wants us to turn pages and squirm.”—Los Angeles Times

“A chilling portrait of manipulation and menace within the cloistered world of an elite boarding school.”Financial Times

“Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written, Fox is yet further proof that Oates is one of the greatest writers among us today.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Gillian Flynn

“As beautifully written and brilliantly constructed as this story is, as wonderful as the mystery is, Fox’s power is in the many depths of character Joyce Carol Oates explores and how she captures the nuances of the choices people make.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly

“I can’t remember the last time I read something so (darkly, disconcertingly) addictive that yet bears so much realism and nuance and depth. Oates is a genius in the truest sense of the word—fearing nothing, including radical reinvention—and Fox is, to my mind, her most compelling book in her remarkable career.”—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You

“[A] psychological thriller about a private school teacher whose disturbing past is uncovered when his car is found submerged in the swampy wetlands . . . a probing analysis of the mind of a predatory person.”—Hartford Courant

“[Fox is] unlike any other mystery I’ve read. It’s so fully imagined, in the way that only Oates can do, powerful and sinister and beautifully written in her mesmerizing prose. Nobody else writes like the great Joyce Carol Oates. It’s remarkable.”New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder

“Oates layers this extraordinarily complex tale with many surprises that keep the pages turning to the point where the length of the novel seems effortless on her part and impossible to put down . . . [Oates is] a literary master.”Bookreporter

“A mystery at heart, but a gorgeously composed one that uses every modality to create ominous atmosphere . . . Iit is nearly impossible to look away.”Open Letters Review

“Joyce Carol Oates’s astounding Fox is at once a psychological thriller, a police procedural, and a fair-play puzzler.”—Shelf Awareness

“[A] captivating whodunit . . . Oates is at the top of her game.”Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[Oates] is at her best here: insightful, unrelenting, and devastating.”Library Journal, starred review

“Menacing, mesmerizing, and thoroughly provocative.”Booklist, starred review

“A tautly wound procedural, elegantly written . . . [a] moody, often shocking mystery.”Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A master of her craft.”—AARP

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2025-05-03
Oates continues to explore the dark side in this moody, often shocking mystery.

Francis Fox doesn’t enter the narrative until five dozen pages in, and when he does we find him in a sickening act: Deep-kissing a 12-year-old girl, “of which Little Kitten will never speak to others.” Little Kitten is but one of Fox’s victims, and he’s in a perfect position to recruit more: Having been caught in the act in another state, he has changed his name and moved to a small town in the woods of south New Jersey, Oates’ fictional terroir, and has resumed his revolting avocation as a middle school teacher. But as the story opens, Fox is perhaps no more: The denizens of and visitors to Wieland Pond—a forbidding swamp, “a wilderness in which cell phones are useless”—have noticed an unusual stench in a place full of them, as well as a rolled-over car and body parts. Lacking the means to quickly identify the victim, whose face is missing from its detached head, the local gendarmerie takes its time, with world-weary detective Horace Zwender slowly piecing together enough evidence of Fox’s crimes to think, “No one more deserving of beingdead.” Meanwhile, suspicion of murder falls on members of the rough-and-ready Healy family, one of whose ancestors is rumored to have shot down theHindenburg, and one of whose present members is among Fox’s targets. Oates’ descriptions of Fox’s acts are stomach-turningly graphic but not prurient, as if to emphasize how a dangerous predator can move freely in an unending field of prey. But in the end she delivers a tautly wound procedural, elegantly written (and with a Nabokovian in-joke that joinsLolita to her tale), with an expertly constructed surprise ending.

It’s not for the squeamish, but Oates once again masterfully limns the worse angels of our nature.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940190854329
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication date: 06/17/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
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