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Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang
The time is the 1950s. The place is a blue-collar town in upstate New York, where five high school girls are joined in a gang dedicated to pride, power, and vengeance on a world they never made - a world that seems made to denigrate and destroy them.
Foxfire is Joyce Carol Oates' strongest and most unsparing novel yet...an often engrossing, often shocking evocation of female rage, gallantry, and grit. Here, then, are the Foxfire chronicles - the secret history of a sisterhood of blood, a haven from a world of lechers and oppressors, marked by a liberating fury that burns too hot to last.
It is the story of Maddy Monkey, who writes it...of Goldie, whose womanly body masks a fierce, explosive temper...of Lana, with her Marilyn Monroe hair and packs of Chesterfields...of timid Rita, whose humiliation leads to the first act of Foxfire revenge. Above all, it is the story of Legs Sadovsky, with her lean, on-the-edge, icy beauty, whose nerve, muscle, hate, and hurt make her the spark of Foxfire, its guiding spirit, its burning core. At once brutal and lyrical, this is a careening joyride of a novel - charged with outlaw energy and lit by intense emotion.
The story moves over the years from the first eruption of adolescent anger at sexual abuse to a shared life financed by luring predatory men into traps baited with sex. But then the gang's very success leads to disaster - as Foxfire makes a last tragic stand against a society intent on swallowing it up. Yet amid scenes of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation, and vengeance lies this novel's greatest power: the exquisite, astonishing rendering of the bonds that link the girls of Foxfire together - especially that between Maddy, the teller ofthe tale, and Legs, whose quintessential strength and bedrock bravery make her one of the most vivid and vital heroines in modern fiction.
Foxfire is Joyce Carol Oates' strongest and most unsparing novel yet...an often engrossing, often shocking evocation of female rage, gallantry, and grit. Here, then, are the Foxfire chronicles - the secret history of a sisterhood of blood, a haven from a world of lechers and oppressors, marked by a liberating fury that burns too hot to last.
It is the story of Maddy Monkey, who writes it...of Goldie, whose womanly body masks a fierce, explosive temper...of Lana, with her Marilyn Monroe hair and packs of Chesterfields...of timid Rita, whose humiliation leads to the first act of Foxfire revenge. Above all, it is the story of Legs Sadovsky, with her lean, on-the-edge, icy beauty, whose nerve, muscle, hate, and hurt make her the spark of Foxfire, its guiding spirit, its burning core. At once brutal and lyrical, this is a careening joyride of a novel - charged with outlaw energy and lit by intense emotion.
The story moves over the years from the first eruption of adolescent anger at sexual abuse to a shared life financed by luring predatory men into traps baited with sex. But then the gang's very success leads to disaster - as Foxfire makes a last tragic stand against a society intent on swallowing it up. Yet amid scenes of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation, and vengeance lies this novel's greatest power: the exquisite, astonishing rendering of the bonds that link the girls of Foxfire together - especially that between Maddy, the teller ofthe tale, and Legs, whose quintessential strength and bedrock bravery make her one of the most vivid and vital heroines in modern fiction.
313 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
821 books8,860 followersJoyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Prix Femina for The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 562 reviews
April 2, 2009
I love this book so much that I find it difficult to write about it without gushing. I mean, there is the obvious reason why, which is that it's about a girl gang that targets predatory men and boys - and of course, horrible pet shops - with a sense of prefeminist vengeance. Feminist vigilantism appeals to me on this base, primal level, even if I have problems with violence in general.
The book said a lot about the time and place in which everything took place. The sharp class divides, the social instability left behind in the wake of World War II (which is interesting considering that popular history says otherwise), the racism that existed even among the poorest, most outcast white girls, the Red baiting, Legs' proto-socialist tendencies, the power of the cult of personality, it goes on and on.
And each time I read it - this would be my third - I take something new away from it. This time there were two things. One, I thought about how often it seems like writers use bookish, slightly introverted, observant characters - which seems to describe the personalities writers often have - as their narrators. It's like, no matter how imaginative the writer may be, they still need to enter their stories through someone who is like themselves. I don't know if that makes sense, as I am writing this in bits and pieces, but it's just something I've noticed a lot lately.
The other thing I thought about was Oates' description of Legs' time in solitary, and how well it matched up with this New Yorker article I had just read about the use of solitary in American prisons, and the way depriving prisoners of human contact can twist and break even the most headstrong mind.
There's more, but I don't want to clog up anyone's email with more of my barely formed ramblings.
The book said a lot about the time and place in which everything took place. The sharp class divides, the social instability left behind in the wake of World War II (which is interesting considering that popular history says otherwise), the racism that existed even among the poorest, most outcast white girls, the Red baiting, Legs' proto-socialist tendencies, the power of the cult of personality, it goes on and on.
And each time I read it - this would be my third - I take something new away from it. This time there were two things. One, I thought about how often it seems like writers use bookish, slightly introverted, observant characters - which seems to describe the personalities writers often have - as their narrators. It's like, no matter how imaginative the writer may be, they still need to enter their stories through someone who is like themselves. I don't know if that makes sense, as I am writing this in bits and pieces, but it's just something I've noticed a lot lately.
The other thing I thought about was Oates' description of Legs' time in solitary, and how well it matched up with this New Yorker article I had just read about the use of solitary in American prisons, and the way depriving prisoners of human contact can twist and break even the most headstrong mind.
There's more, but I don't want to clog up anyone's email with more of my barely formed ramblings.
June 11, 2023
Whoever's reading this, if anyone is reading it: does it matter that our old selves are lost to us as surely as the past is lost, or is it enough to know yes we lived then, and we're living now, and the connection must be there?—like a river hundreds of miles long exists both at its source and at its mouth, simultaneously?
You ever get so caught up in the machinations of something that you forget to breathe, forget to exist outside of the system in which you are inundated? That is FOXFIRE. FOXFIRE BURNS & BURNS.
A selection of teenage girls is fated to orbit one another, and a blood-bond is made. Legs Sadovsky leads this all-girl gang into the promised land of retribution. Revenge is sought for wrongs made against them by men: the inherent enemy. Comrades are made in the fire. But the fire must not be left unattended.
Is Time and its experiences real if not chronicled and shared? Does it exist if all there is is Now?
Oates does the world a favor by writing this book—a meta congealment of the girlhood surreal magnified and processed by the far-reaching lens of adulthood reason.
You ever get so caught up in the machinations of something that you forget to breathe, forget to exist outside of the system in which you are inundated? That is FOXFIRE. FOXFIRE BURNS & BURNS.
A selection of teenage girls is fated to orbit one another, and a blood-bond is made. Legs Sadovsky leads this all-girl gang into the promised land of retribution. Revenge is sought for wrongs made against them by men: the inherent enemy. Comrades are made in the fire. But the fire must not be left unattended.
Is Time and its experiences real if not chronicled and shared? Does it exist if all there is is Now?
Oates does the world a favor by writing this book—a meta congealment of the girlhood surreal magnified and processed by the far-reaching lens of adulthood reason.
November 22, 2007
Foxfire never says die.
I have a Tattoo, based from this Book and the Movie that followed,...that starred Angelina Jolie. ;)
It's the story of a group of misfit girls, who fight back. Yes, they are a girl gang, but they aren't the offshoot of a boy gang. They aren't the girls of some local hoods. They are the ones running the show.
You are my Heart, Joyce. Foxfire Forever.
I have a Tattoo, based from this Book and the Movie that followed,...that starred Angelina Jolie. ;)
It's the story of a group of misfit girls, who fight back. Yes, they are a girl gang, but they aren't the offshoot of a boy gang. They aren't the girls of some local hoods. They are the ones running the show.
You are my Heart, Joyce. Foxfire Forever.
January 27, 2011
Foxfire is the book that impacted me the most in Middle school. Take that as you must, but I'm happy to see that, unlike The Catcher in the Rye, it holds up reading it with adult eyes. Of course, now, 10 years older than the last time I read it, I find issues with some of the characters I loved as a teenager, but I can see a desperation and naivete I couldn't see before. This book is one of many that cements Oates into the the hall of fame of awesome American writers.
June 21, 2023
"Ce altceva este memoria daca nu un muzeu lucrurilor condamnate la uitare, de aceea si exista Istoria. Trebuie sa muncesti ca sa inventezi Istoria. Sa arati fidelitate fata de lucrurile insemnate care ti se intampla, sa inregistrezi zile, date, evenimente, nume, locuri. Sa nu te bazezi numai pe memoria ta care paleste, la fel ca o fotografie Polaroid, unde vezi cum memoria se sterge chiar sub ochii tai, de parca timpul insusi s-ar retrage."
October 26, 2021
Le titre et la quatrième de couverture me donnaient envie. Le nom de l'autrice ne m'était pas inconnu, et je savais son engagement féministe.
Avec ce livre, elle signe un hommage fort aux filles et aux femmes, à celles qu'on ne défend pas, à celles qu'on laisse de côté, à celles qui tentent de survivre, seules.
Elle bâtit un gang de filles, d'adolescentes dures, qu'on imagine tout en angles, des filles qui ne veulent plus s'en laisser compter, qui revendiquent leur place dans ce monde qui ne privilégie que les hommes et les garçons, que ce soit dans les gangs, chez les pauvres ou chez les riches.
Ces filles, menées par une leader qui est une de celles qu'on admire, vont changer le monde, changer leur monde et se donner l'importance qu'elles méritent.
Et que dire de Legs, cette meneuse charismatique qui semble ne jamais douter et toujours savoir. C'est elle qui mène les filles, c'est elle qui sait, c'est elle qui les libère. Elle pense et réfléchit par elle-même, elle reste forte, intelligente et déterminée, et elle partage son amour avec toutes ces femmes qui sont ses sœurs, avec tous les déshérités qui sont sa famille, la générosité chevillée au corps.
Foxfire c'est une famille. Non conventionnelle, extrême, dont le quotidien peut nous échapper mais c'est une belle famille. Foxfire c'est un peu une secte aussi, tant son pouvoir attire, tant sa renommée fait peur.
Cette lecture est une réussite. J'ai aimé, adoré suivre un livre dont tous les personnages charismatiques sont des filles, des femmes. J'ai aimé qu'on se centre sur elles et que les garçons et les hommes en soient presque exclus. L'homme apparaît sous un jour peu reluisant, qu'il soit père, membre de la famille ou rival, car la force des filles les écrase et leur fait peur. Elles ont cessé de se taire, elles ont cessé de faire le dos rond, elles en ont eu marre de ne pas avoir leur part du gâteau, et elles ont déconstruit les stéréotypes de genre qui choisissent arbitrairement les goûts, les droits et les devoirs de chacun en fonction de son sexe.
Et je me suis révoltée avec mes sœurs de Foxfire.
Avec ce livre, elle signe un hommage fort aux filles et aux femmes, à celles qu'on ne défend pas, à celles qu'on laisse de côté, à celles qui tentent de survivre, seules.
Elle bâtit un gang de filles, d'adolescentes dures, qu'on imagine tout en angles, des filles qui ne veulent plus s'en laisser compter, qui revendiquent leur place dans ce monde qui ne privilégie que les hommes et les garçons, que ce soit dans les gangs, chez les pauvres ou chez les riches.
Ces filles, menées par une leader qui est une de celles qu'on admire, vont changer le monde, changer leur monde et se donner l'importance qu'elles méritent.
Et que dire de Legs, cette meneuse charismatique qui semble ne jamais douter et toujours savoir. C'est elle qui mène les filles, c'est elle qui sait, c'est elle qui les libère. Elle pense et réfléchit par elle-même, elle reste forte, intelligente et déterminée, et elle partage son amour avec toutes ces femmes qui sont ses sœurs, avec tous les déshérités qui sont sa famille, la générosité chevillée au corps.
Foxfire c'est une famille. Non conventionnelle, extrême, dont le quotidien peut nous échapper mais c'est une belle famille. Foxfire c'est un peu une secte aussi, tant son pouvoir attire, tant sa renommée fait peur.
Cette lecture est une réussite. J'ai aimé, adoré suivre un livre dont tous les personnages charismatiques sont des filles, des femmes. J'ai aimé qu'on se centre sur elles et que les garçons et les hommes en soient presque exclus. L'homme apparaît sous un jour peu reluisant, qu'il soit père, membre de la famille ou rival, car la force des filles les écrase et leur fait peur. Elles ont cessé de se taire, elles ont cessé de faire le dos rond, elles en ont eu marre de ne pas avoir leur part du gâteau, et elles ont déconstruit les stéréotypes de genre qui choisissent arbitrairement les goûts, les droits et les devoirs de chacun en fonction de son sexe.
Et je me suis révoltée avec mes sœurs de Foxfire.
May 18, 2023
Įdomus socialinis reiškinys- gauja, tuo labiau- mergaičių, paauglių. Padiktuotas vienatvės, noro priklausyti, noro, kad tavimi būtų pasirūpinta.
Skaitau antrą kartą, labai patinka autorės stilius, aplinkos aprašymai. Nykus, skurdus Hemondo miestelis. Fabrikų užterštas oras, nusidirbę, geriantys vyrai, mušamos moterys. Vaikai, kurių tiek daug, kad nesuskaičiuosi, ką jau kalbėti, apie pasirūpinimą. Būti mergaite Hemonde ne pyragai- nuolat tykąs seksualinių iškrypėlių pavojus, kuriuos autorė aprašo stingdančiai šaltai, neieškodama tavyje empatijos. Ji jau čia, nuo pat pirmų sakinių, gaila viso pasaulio mergaičių, kurioms nepasisekė.. Neapykantos vyrams daug, neapykantos turtingiesiems irgi, tai pagrindinė gaujos varomoji jėga.
Narių santykiai, kalbu apie Ilgšę ir Medi,- nevaikiškai gilūs, sudėtingi, be galo gražūs savo atsidavimu:
Medi, tu mano širdelė.
Niekas daugiau man šito nebesakė. Niekam daugiau nebuvo duota pagrindo šitaip man sakyti.
O Ilgšė Sadovski- kokiam ji laike?
Ar ji yra- ar esi tu, Ilgše- ar iš viso esi kokiame nors laike?
Pradžioje skaitai, tas nuolat kartojamas ŽALTVYKSLĖ, ŽALTVYKSLĖ, jos nuostatai, atrodo juokingi, o užsidegimas- vaikiškas, naivus, net kvailas. Bet įsitraukus, gaujos veiksmai pamažu peržengia ribas, kol mergaitės įsivelia į nusikaltimą, kurio padariniai atneša pabaigą seserijai.
Skaitau antrą kartą, labai patinka autorės stilius, aplinkos aprašymai. Nykus, skurdus Hemondo miestelis. Fabrikų užterštas oras, nusidirbę, geriantys vyrai, mušamos moterys. Vaikai, kurių tiek daug, kad nesuskaičiuosi, ką jau kalbėti, apie pasirūpinimą. Būti mergaite Hemonde ne pyragai- nuolat tykąs seksualinių iškrypėlių pavojus, kuriuos autorė aprašo stingdančiai šaltai, neieškodama tavyje empatijos. Ji jau čia, nuo pat pirmų sakinių, gaila viso pasaulio mergaičių, kurioms nepasisekė.. Neapykantos vyrams daug, neapykantos turtingiesiems irgi, tai pagrindinė gaujos varomoji jėga.
Narių santykiai, kalbu apie Ilgšę ir Medi,- nevaikiškai gilūs, sudėtingi, be galo gražūs savo atsidavimu:
Medi, tu mano širdelė.
Niekas daugiau man šito nebesakė. Niekam daugiau nebuvo duota pagrindo šitaip man sakyti.
O Ilgšė Sadovski- kokiam ji laike?
Ar ji yra- ar esi tu, Ilgše- ar iš viso esi kokiame nors laike?
Pradžioje skaitai, tas nuolat kartojamas ŽALTVYKSLĖ, ŽALTVYKSLĖ, jos nuostatai, atrodo juokingi, o užsidegimas- vaikiškas, naivus, net kvailas. Bet įsitraukus, gaujos veiksmai pamažu peržengia ribas, kol mergaitės įsivelia į nusikaltimą, kurio padariniai atneša pabaigą seserijai.
September 20, 2007
If rock'n'roll is your ideal, then this is a book you want to read. Not that Foxfire deals explicitly with music at any point, but Oates is able to distill that same electricity.
The story is set in the 50s, but, except for a few scattered cultural markers, it could just as easily be set in the contemporary moment. And I read it in that context. Nothing felt put on, or "for show." I've known women like the characters in this book, including some close friends I've gotten to know over the years. They are wild, and courageous, and vulnerable. Most importantly, Joyce is able, with her capital letters and italics, to make you feel the urgency teen drama. So if people want to debate the realness of her story, go for it; I'll simply say, well, it's real enough.
Hard not to fantasize, after reading this book, about what it would have been like to have joined a gang. My advice: start a rock band. Next best thing.
The story is set in the 50s, but, except for a few scattered cultural markers, it could just as easily be set in the contemporary moment. And I read it in that context. Nothing felt put on, or "for show." I've known women like the characters in this book, including some close friends I've gotten to know over the years. They are wild, and courageous, and vulnerable. Most importantly, Joyce is able, with her capital letters and italics, to make you feel the urgency teen drama. So if people want to debate the realness of her story, go for it; I'll simply say, well, it's real enough.
Hard not to fantasize, after reading this book, about what it would have been like to have joined a gang. My advice: start a rock band. Next best thing.
May 21, 2020
I see Joyce Carol Oates as being a heavy hitter in the literary fiction genre. She has written many books and they’re stuffed full of heavy themes.
In my mind I give her a sort of royal status of longterm women writers; she pairs well with Margaret Atwood. Oddly I have also given them masculine sounding monikers, as if they are athletic celebrities: J.C.O.!! Margaret F*_’-ing Atwood!! Real bro talk like.
The Firefox gang shown here is really something. Excellently, they’re all teenagers, and they all make spectacularly bad decisions. Because the gang members are girls, they risk much harsher consequences than boys would. This book unblinkingly shows just how much hatred comes from men of all ages, especially when the men are looking at girls and women.
All the characters here have flaws and wounds, and readers, if trying to learn something, don’t know where to start.
But one nice place, for female readers, is that we can see how to make our own spaces — a Room of One’s Own, borrowing from Virginia Woolf’s idea.
We aren’t auxiliary members of a guy group. We’re our own thing. Making new rules.
It was just much harder, in the 1950s, when the plot takes place. Foxfire members had very few precedent concepts on which to base their activities. And their founding member, while incendiary and inspirational, was volatile and unstable. Yes, Foxfire burns and burns. But the young founders discovered that they may not have been the flames; instead they were the twigs.
In my mind I give her a sort of royal status of longterm women writers; she pairs well with Margaret Atwood. Oddly I have also given them masculine sounding monikers, as if they are athletic celebrities: J.C.O.!! Margaret F*_’-ing Atwood!! Real bro talk like.
The Firefox gang shown here is really something. Excellently, they’re all teenagers, and they all make spectacularly bad decisions. Because the gang members are girls, they risk much harsher consequences than boys would. This book unblinkingly shows just how much hatred comes from men of all ages, especially when the men are looking at girls and women.
All the characters here have flaws and wounds, and readers, if trying to learn something, don’t know where to start.
But one nice place, for female readers, is that we can see how to make our own spaces — a Room of One’s Own, borrowing from Virginia Woolf’s idea.
We aren’t auxiliary members of a guy group. We’re our own thing. Making new rules.
It was just much harder, in the 1950s, when the plot takes place. Foxfire members had very few precedent concepts on which to base their activities. And their founding member, while incendiary and inspirational, was volatile and unstable. Yes, Foxfire burns and burns. But the young founders discovered that they may not have been the flames; instead they were the twigs.
March 4, 2016
If I wasn’t reading this for a book club it would have been a hard DNF at about 30%. But I’m glad I finished it because it turns out it was fun to discuss it even if it wasn’t fun to read.
I don’t like stream of consciousness writing; it always seems to me to be more interesting for the author than for the reader, and this was a case in point.
The idea sounded good: a girl gang with a charismatic leader running rampant in 1950s upstate New York. Unfortunately the execution was pretty dull; skewed timelines, the narrator being referred to sometimes in the first person and sometimes in the third, rambling sentences and two-page-long paragraphs about nothing in particular (at one point there is an entire page devoted to listing out, verbatim, the rules and regulations of a juvenile detention centre).
The book is a ‘memoir’ of Maddy Wirtz, a member of the FOXFIRE gang. It chronicles the rise and eventual demise of the group at the hands of their glorious leader Margaret ‘Legs’ Sadovsky. All of the girls have very poor, or non-existent, male role models and there are some horrific scenes of rape, sexual harassment and violence. Sadovsky realises (consciously or otherwise) that the way out of their abuse is female solidarity and collective action, which works… to a degree.
Some people at the book club really enjoyed it and I think it probably comes down to whether you’re a plot-driven person or not. I am, and the plot for me was too tangled and slow.
I’m glad I stuck with it but I wouldn’t really recommend it. I found it hard work that didn’t pay off.
I don’t like stream of consciousness writing; it always seems to me to be more interesting for the author than for the reader, and this was a case in point.
The idea sounded good: a girl gang with a charismatic leader running rampant in 1950s upstate New York. Unfortunately the execution was pretty dull; skewed timelines, the narrator being referred to sometimes in the first person and sometimes in the third, rambling sentences and two-page-long paragraphs about nothing in particular (at one point there is an entire page devoted to listing out, verbatim, the rules and regulations of a juvenile detention centre).
The book is a ‘memoir’ of Maddy Wirtz, a member of the FOXFIRE gang. It chronicles the rise and eventual demise of the group at the hands of their glorious leader Margaret ‘Legs’ Sadovsky. All of the girls have very poor, or non-existent, male role models and there are some horrific scenes of rape, sexual harassment and violence. Sadovsky realises (consciously or otherwise) that the way out of their abuse is female solidarity and collective action, which works… to a degree.
Some people at the book club really enjoyed it and I think it probably comes down to whether you’re a plot-driven person or not. I am, and the plot for me was too tangled and slow.
I’m glad I stuck with it but I wouldn’t really recommend it. I found it hard work that didn’t pay off.
September 1, 2014
I'm getting a Foxfire tattoo unless somebody stops me.
If you're a stickler for grammar, you should skip this one. In fact, you should skip all fiction and just read the dicionary.
Update: I got that tattoo.
If you're a stickler for grammar, you should skip this one. In fact, you should skip all fiction and just read the dicionary.
Update: I got that tattoo.
September 4, 2010
Foxfire is a book that read itself. At first, I found the choppy stream-of-consciousness style hard to deal with. I had to re-read the first few pages several times. But after the first third, or so, I began to get a feel for the odd prose style. The run-on sentences, capital letters, and lack of punctuation dragged my eye across the page and made the book very difficult to put down. I read most of the last two hundred pages in a single sitting and can’t remember the last time I finished a book so quickly.
Foxfire is many things. It is at once a blistering critique of the status of women in post-World War Two America, a coming-of-age novel, the thrilling, action-packed saga of a girl-gang in poor, working-class New York, and (above all) a portrait of Margaret “Legs” Sadovsky. The book succeeds on all fronts, but the depiction of Legs (and her motivations) is what has stayed with me most after reading it.
In many ways, Legs is as multi-faceted as the book itself. At once courageous and naïve, she is an undying proponent of individuality and freedom. Throughout the book, she spouts socialist phrases and ideologies, although she has no understanding of what any of it actually means, and experiments with commonly accepted paradigms of gender and power. (One scene, in which she unexpectedly discovers sexual power while dressing up as a man for a job interview is one of the most memorable and surreal episodes of the entire book.)
Though Foxfire is narrated by the quieter, bookish Maddie Wirtz, it is unquestionably Legs’ story. The Foxfire gang is her creation and Legs becomes an odd combination of bully and mother-hen to the group of lost girls that fall under her charge. Think of Legs as a sort of female Peter Pan; the working-class town of Hammond, New York is her Never-Never Land: a gigantic playground for female passion and imagination gone awry.
Indeed, the story is told in a remarkable, childlike style with an emphasis on the visual. Some of the images seemed to pop right off the page and I remember thinking, as I read, that the book would make a great film. (I’ve since heard that there is a Foxfire movie out there, starring Angelina Jolie. That surprised me, since I kept picturing Keira Knightly as Legs Sadovsky while reading the book.)
One example of the book’s emphasis on image is the heavenly motifs that pepper the text. Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes ‘sky’ and ‘altitude’ throughout the book. In fact, the sky seemed to take on an almost salvific quality for Maddie and Legs, the two main protagonists.
Legs’ interest in the heavens is established early on in the story, but both characters develop a pattern of looking upwards whenever they wish to escape their dreary, Earth-bound circumstances. One example is a memorable scene in which Legs climbs up a tall water tower to escape a seething crowd of male oppressors on Memorial Day Weekend. Later on, while stuck in an isolation ward in prison, she finds solace watching a group of hawks circle outside her window.
In addition, Maddie also develops a fascination with stars and astronomy. She is pictured reading astronomy books throughout the story. At the end, it is revealed that she eventually became an astronomer’s assistant and was (for a time) married to an astronomer, as well. While one can’t be sure whether such repetition was intentional,
Joyce Carol Oates strikes me as too deliberate a writer for the motifs to be entirely accidental.
She is also a hugely prolific one. So far, I’ve only read two of her novels: Foxfire and them, so I can’t comment on how Foxfire compares to the rest of her ouvre. However, both novels have left me suitably impressed with the quality of Ms. Oates’ writing and I look forward to exploring her body of work for many more years to come.
Foxfire is by far my favorite of the two books. It’s well worth reading, and offers taut prose, memorable characters, and a harrowing climax to anyone willing to slog through the first fifty pages. Some have complained that the book’s male characters are weak and one-dimensional, but I didn’t see that. It’s true that men are unquestionably painted as the villains in Foxfire, but Ms. Oates seemed to be making an effort here to make the men well-rounded. Mr. Whitney Kellogg, the main male character, came across as downright nice compared to the male characters populating them. For these reasons, I recommend Foxfire: not only as a compelling story, but as a good introduction to Ms. Oates’ body of work, as well.
Foxfire is many things. It is at once a blistering critique of the status of women in post-World War Two America, a coming-of-age novel, the thrilling, action-packed saga of a girl-gang in poor, working-class New York, and (above all) a portrait of Margaret “Legs” Sadovsky. The book succeeds on all fronts, but the depiction of Legs (and her motivations) is what has stayed with me most after reading it.
In many ways, Legs is as multi-faceted as the book itself. At once courageous and naïve, she is an undying proponent of individuality and freedom. Throughout the book, she spouts socialist phrases and ideologies, although she has no understanding of what any of it actually means, and experiments with commonly accepted paradigms of gender and power. (One scene, in which she unexpectedly discovers sexual power while dressing up as a man for a job interview is one of the most memorable and surreal episodes of the entire book.)
Though Foxfire is narrated by the quieter, bookish Maddie Wirtz, it is unquestionably Legs’ story. The Foxfire gang is her creation and Legs becomes an odd combination of bully and mother-hen to the group of lost girls that fall under her charge. Think of Legs as a sort of female Peter Pan; the working-class town of Hammond, New York is her Never-Never Land: a gigantic playground for female passion and imagination gone awry.
Indeed, the story is told in a remarkable, childlike style with an emphasis on the visual. Some of the images seemed to pop right off the page and I remember thinking, as I read, that the book would make a great film. (I’ve since heard that there is a Foxfire movie out there, starring Angelina Jolie. That surprised me, since I kept picturing Keira Knightly as Legs Sadovsky while reading the book.)
One example of the book’s emphasis on image is the heavenly motifs that pepper the text. Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes ‘sky’ and ‘altitude’ throughout the book. In fact, the sky seemed to take on an almost salvific quality for Maddie and Legs, the two main protagonists.
Legs’ interest in the heavens is established early on in the story, but both characters develop a pattern of looking upwards whenever they wish to escape their dreary, Earth-bound circumstances. One example is a memorable scene in which Legs climbs up a tall water tower to escape a seething crowd of male oppressors on Memorial Day Weekend. Later on, while stuck in an isolation ward in prison, she finds solace watching a group of hawks circle outside her window.
In addition, Maddie also develops a fascination with stars and astronomy. She is pictured reading astronomy books throughout the story. At the end, it is revealed that she eventually became an astronomer’s assistant and was (for a time) married to an astronomer, as well. While one can’t be sure whether such repetition was intentional,
Joyce Carol Oates strikes me as too deliberate a writer for the motifs to be entirely accidental.
She is also a hugely prolific one. So far, I’ve only read two of her novels: Foxfire and them, so I can’t comment on how Foxfire compares to the rest of her ouvre. However, both novels have left me suitably impressed with the quality of Ms. Oates’ writing and I look forward to exploring her body of work for many more years to come.
Foxfire is by far my favorite of the two books. It’s well worth reading, and offers taut prose, memorable characters, and a harrowing climax to anyone willing to slog through the first fifty pages. Some have complained that the book’s male characters are weak and one-dimensional, but I didn’t see that. It’s true that men are unquestionably painted as the villains in Foxfire, but Ms. Oates seemed to be making an effort here to make the men well-rounded. Mr. Whitney Kellogg, the main male character, came across as downright nice compared to the male characters populating them. For these reasons, I recommend Foxfire: not only as a compelling story, but as a good introduction to Ms. Oates’ body of work, as well.
September 7, 2014
Son chicas y viven en la zona marginal de la ciudad a inicios de los cincuenta. Son niñas y han visto los horrores de los hombres intentando abusar de ellas y atacarlas. Deciden crear una banda de chicas, una sociedad de hermanas de sangre, una hermandad en la que se tomarán la justicia por su mano, se ayudarán las unas a las otras y se darán una razón de ser. Y la artífice de todo esto, la abanderada será Legs Sadovsky, uno de esos personajes cercanos y misteriosos, un espíritu libre que lucha por los débiles y amenaza a punta de navaja a todos aquellos que se alzan contra ella. Una chica que escala muros y salta tejados, que parece un chiquillo y que consigue dinero de lugares insólitos. Una adolescente preciosa si no fuese por sus modales masculinos que llora ante las injusticias y da su vida por aquello que cree vale la pena. Legs enamora, y enamora de verdad. Las locuras de las chicas a veces parecen excesivas, otras meras chiquilladas y algunas actos de justicia en toda regla. Son ellas contra el mundo, son el mundo o ellas, las hermanas de Foxfire, las del fuego que nunca se apaga. Y todas, sin excepción, aportan los retazos de una historia muy recomendable.
December 13, 2024
This is one of the most boring books I’ve ever read in my entire life, which is a pity since I genuinely believe the idea of it is good and the plot has a lot of potential. If I didn’t have to read this book for school I wouldn’t have finished it and sadly those are some of hours of my life I’ll never get back.
January 21, 2018
Com este livro senti o que costumam dizer sobre certas bebidas: primeiro estranha-se, depois entranha-se. Comecei de forma lenta, mas termino bem mais "agarrada" a este romance que não segue a estrutura habitual.
Personagens fortes, a "Pernas" e a Maddy, não serão facilmente esquecidas.
Personagens fortes, a "Pernas" e a Maddy, não serão facilmente esquecidas.
Want to read
October 29, 2019My dance teacher recommended the movie but I have to read the book first lmao
May 14, 2024
The battle of the sexes, made literal and lurid. Themes of class warfare, poverty, male dominance over women, abuse, neglect, and how communities try to make themselves whole and redress all these inequities. I particularly liked the exploration of the theme of the past and how it informs the present; how we reconstruct past events to make sense of them; and different metaphors employed throughout on this concept.
Legs is an iconic type of character - loved the final image of her, immortalized in a newspaper picture next to Castro. Would recommend! But avoid if you can’t handle lots of random capitalized words.
Legs is an iconic type of character - loved the final image of her, immortalized in a newspaper picture next to Castro. Would recommend! But avoid if you can’t handle lots of random capitalized words.
September 21, 2016
This is a really fun and exciting read, my favorite JCO work thus far. Here, Joyce Carol Oates is at her best. With such a young cast of characters Oates is at full liberty to show the smooth transition between social marginalization in childhood and an adult life that was far from ideal, a life of thievery. The links between poverty, social marginalization, institutionalization, and crime are clear to those who have experienced them. Never have I found a work of fiction that combines all these elements into such an enthralling and historically pertinent book.
The portrait painted of Legs Sedovosky is so beautiful I wish I had known her. Strong willed, strong boned, and strong legged: Legs is stoic from the very beginning drawing others toward her with admiration and jealousy, flattery. Her bold confidence rivaled the leaders of the male gangs in town, she was the real thing. A gang leader with a purpose: to provide for her loved ones and defend the meek. She changed the hearts of those around her and inspired them through memory until the very end. Let Legs inspire you as well and be bold in what you do. Never back down, be who you really are "Foxfire never forgets" and neither will the next person you inspire.
July 23, 2017
I absolutely loved this book with its great characters of Maddy-Monkey and Legs Sadovsky. Often written in Oates' semi-stream-of-consciousness style (with the attendant lack of punctuation), it takes the reader on a wild adolescent ride with (as always) some points of social commentary along the way. It certainly provides its own irreverant take on "the sisterhood is powerful." As was the case with Oates' "Man Crazy" (though perhaps, I think, a little less so), this book may not be to everyone's taste. But for me, it was perfect.
February 8, 2013
Not quite 4 stars, more 3.5 ish. I liked the movie and then read the book. Ah, back then Angelina was so hot. Between Foxfire, Gia, and Hackers, I was smitten. Now her face annoys me. Go away already, Angelina.
Got off on a tangent. I remember the book being decent, if not entirely believable. This "gang of girls" was not intimidating whatsoever imo. And like with the movie, I wanted more overt examination of the queerness.
Got off on a tangent. I remember the book being decent, if not entirely believable. This "gang of girls" was not intimidating whatsoever imo. And like with the movie, I wanted more overt examination of the queerness.
December 22, 2024
Much to think about. I think this book, my first Oates, will stick with me for a long time. I don't remember where I heard about this book, but as soon as I did, I knew I needed to read it—it only took me a year and a half to do so, hah... It's a sometimes-heavy and sometimes-tender read set in upstate NY in the 1950s. I think it should be a reread sometime in the future.
A beauty of this book is Oates' ability to subtly portray age and aging. I could feel the characters age from early teens to early adulthood, then the narrator into later life, just by reading the words.
Some negatives: the later initiates to Foxfire served, I suppose, to create the divisions that would eventually contribute to the downfall. However, they did not really stick out as completely necessary or thoughful additions to the plot, and wondered if the book couldn't get by with just the central few.
Another thing to weigh is the heavy-handed use of racial slurs. Sure, it's the 50s, whatever one might say; personally, I don't enjoy it, and only found it relevant to the scene with Marigold. Here the Foxfire girls began to be quietly divided by prejudices, having aged into their own individuals but still attached by an ideology formed years before. Otherwise, it felt surprising and unnecessary.
A beauty of this book is Oates' ability to subtly portray age and aging. I could feel the characters age from early teens to early adulthood, then the narrator into later life, just by reading the words.
Some negatives: the later initiates to Foxfire served, I suppose, to create the divisions that would eventually contribute to the downfall. However, they did not really stick out as completely necessary or thoughful additions to the plot, and wondered if the book couldn't get by with just the central few.
Another thing to weigh is the heavy-handed use of racial slurs. Sure, it's the 50s, whatever one might say; personally, I don't enjoy it, and only found it relevant to the scene with Marigold. Here the Foxfire girls began to be quietly divided by prejudices, having aged into their own individuals but still attached by an ideology formed years before. Otherwise, it felt surprising and unnecessary.
June 5, 2023
I didn’t finish this book. Actually only made it to page 60. This book is categorised as feminist and was the basis for the 1996 film that gave my young queer but not yet out to herself queer self a lot to obsess over. So naturally I was drawn to read this book.
I was shocked to find overtly disturbing racial slurs used by the protagonists. These were used in ways that were meant to be empowering to them. I understand that books are a reflection of their time and can be interesting to read to get a glimpse into the past. I expected better from a book written in the 90s by a so called feminist. This was written in 1993. A year after the LA riots. This is a clear account of the problematic nature of white feminism. Girls taking revenge on their abuser by using racist slurs. This is not feminism.
I looked up reviews on Goodreads and searched online and I cannot find any critique of this. Which is even more shocking. The one star reviews are about the chaotic writing style. I found a website listing books that have been banned and this was on it not for the racism but for the sexual violence.
I’m shocked but sadly I shouldn’t be surprised. I wonder how this plays out in the rest of the book but am too disturbed to keep reading.
I was shocked to find overtly disturbing racial slurs used by the protagonists. These were used in ways that were meant to be empowering to them. I understand that books are a reflection of their time and can be interesting to read to get a glimpse into the past. I expected better from a book written in the 90s by a so called feminist. This was written in 1993. A year after the LA riots. This is a clear account of the problematic nature of white feminism. Girls taking revenge on their abuser by using racist slurs. This is not feminism.
I looked up reviews on Goodreads and searched online and I cannot find any critique of this. Which is even more shocking. The one star reviews are about the chaotic writing style. I found a website listing books that have been banned and this was on it not for the racism but for the sexual violence.
I’m shocked but sadly I shouldn’t be surprised. I wonder how this plays out in the rest of the book but am too disturbed to keep reading.
May 25, 2017
Really liked this one. It was like an all-girl version of Fight Club, set in 1950s New York. Strong female characters who are determined, and relentless, and stick to their convictions. They are teenagers, so some of their ideas aren't the brightest, but the core of the story is female empowerment in the face of sexism, and going against societal norms.
October 28, 2010
The main character's name is Legs. There are other characters with equally appealing names like Maddy Monkey, Boom Boom, & Fireball. This is the story of an adventure of a girl gang in the 1950s. It is a fun read. Skip the bad 90s flick and read the book. You won't be sorry.
October 20, 2007
Just 'eh.' Not as exciting as a book about a girl gang should be.
December 8, 2022
Great book. Made me think of what a waste it is with societies where girls with fire cannot prosper.
June 17, 2017
Was torn between giving this a 3 or a 4... Decided to go with the 4, as it's probably better than this God awful Portuguese translation.
March 29, 2020
A great read in terms of theme, pretty much everything that always pulls me into a novel. I did, however, struggle at times to get into a flow due to the writing style.
July 15, 2023
Che colpo al cuore con questo romanzo, Joyce! Diventato il mio preferito suo dopo Blonde.
April 24, 2020
Foxfire was very entertaining, and in some ways, it was exactly what I needed to read when I did. But something about it still fell short for me! I loved Joyce Carol Oates' writing though, and I feel like she would have definitley been my favorite author if I would have been reading her stuff during her prime. And I think she's someone I would for sure want to meet! Any woman who felt comfortable publishing such a rebellious story of young girls fighting back in 1996, I DEFINITLEY would want to meet! This feels like such a new age story with everything going on in modern times of women finally finding their voices, especially against men. This book is so advanced for it's time, and maybe I'm completely off about that, but I can't imagine this book getting off easy during this time. A lot of the book was somewhat boring to me though. The parts that weren't boring me, REALLY kept me entertained though, so all in all, it was a very likeable book. I can't wait to watch the movie adaptation with Angelina Jolie! What a perfect actress they cast for Legs!
I brought out two other Joyce Carol Oates books I own closer to the front of my bookshelf, so they aren't so buried in my shelf now that I know how much I like her!!!! :)
I brought out two other Joyce Carol Oates books I own closer to the front of my bookshelf, so they aren't so buried in my shelf now that I know how much I like her!!!! :)
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