Fox & I

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.

Fox and I is a tale of a woman—a woman as modern human and as human animal—and her introspective engagement with the natural world that surrounds her. It's a tale of participation and not mere observation and what that means to her and what that may mean to the rest of us.

This memoir is utterly unique and her writing is stupendous. I was also quite impressed with her ability to seamlessly weave a tale of both fiction and memoir. Fox and I deserves all the awards it is bound to win and is one of those rare books that will be read and reread for decades to come. Quite an achievement.