Fox 8 {story}

I was fortunate to get access to both the audiobook and the ebook from the library so I read and listened -- I'm so glad I did as part of the humor is the unique spelling.

Example: "Why did the Curator do it so rong, making the groop with the gratest skils the meenest?"

I laughed out loud, then I got sad, then angry, then hopeful. I would very much like for the humans to try to explain themselves to Fox 8 because I'm so ashamed to be one.

I've never read George Saunders because I don't particularly care for short stories, but maybe I should give him more attempts.

Like a lot of George Saunders' stuff, this small volume seems harder to describe than it feels like it should be. Let's say that it's a talking-animal fable for adults. It starts out cute and kind of funny; gets sad in complicated, unresolved ways that you don't see in ordinary fairy tales; then ends on a moral and a pointed question for human readers that are, on one hand, as simple as they can possibly be, and on the other, as complicated as human nature and human civilization.

Of course, George Saunders, being George Saunders, makes this work, in his own strange kind of way.

Wise, funny, heartbreaking. Narrated in the wonderfully endearing, and brilliantly sustained, voice of Fox 8, who has learned to speak "Yuman." A must-read for environmentalists and animal lovers, and especially for developers and animal destroyers. "Why did the Curator do it so rong, making the groop with the gratest skils the meenest?"

Fox 8 is a learner. He learns English by peering in the window of the nearby Yuman (i.e. human) dwelling, listening to their conversations, seeing what they see on television, and trying to sound out the words. His spelling is not so good. But his insight into Yuman behaviour is a benefit to his den, or would be if they hadn’t mostly all been killed during the construction of FoxViewCommons, a huge shopping mall and parking lot. There’s just no living with these Yumans. There’s only being killed, starved, or beaten to death (which is also being killed). So Fox 8 heads out in search of a bit of forest uncontaminated by Yumans. And finds it. But it’s hard living with what he’s seen. To help deal with his trauma, Fox 8 pens this show more story (not really “pens” because he’s a fox; so he used a typewriter instead) to let Yumans know what they have done and hope he can move them to feel some shame and act better in future. Wishful thinking.

A lovely story in which Saunders captures the voice of Fox 8 so completely, you too may feel the shame that Fox 8 hopes Yumans will on account of their actions. show less

For such a slim volume, the story contained in the pages of Fox 8 is powerful beyond measure. Through the eyes of a self-educated fox we are forced to confront the encroachment of humanity on the natural world, as we first witness the slow destruction of Fox 8's pack's habitat, his attempt to adapt, and the climax that forces a drastic change in view. Through his interactions with people Fox 8 has become hopeful that he will be able to lead his pack to coexistence with the humans, since his intereactions with them thus faqr have been neutral and have led him to a false sense of positivity. This all changes when Fox 8 and his friend strike out from the pack, thinking that they will be able to find food and help their pack adapt to the show more changed environment. As someone who would never hurt an animal (barring bugs in my food or too close to my bed...), I was absolutely horrified at the scene where Fox 8's friend is mercilessly murdered by two construction workers. It's no secret that the world is full of cruel people, but their casual violence was a shocking climax to the explorative adventure (largely full of hope) that had dominated the beginning of the story. Fox 8 spends some time wandering the world, depressed and disheartened after this point, but he eventually finds a new place in the world with a pack of foxes whose territory has not been damaged by humans. This ending is seemingly positive, but like Fox 8 we are left with questions: will Fox 8's pack be able to live peacefully; will humans learn to coexist with the natural world; and most importantly: why do we nfeel the need to control and expand into the world in such a way that destroys everything else? Like all fables, Saunders has touched on some crucial themes for humanity, but he leaves us with a deeper sense of dissatisfaction by the finale with his darker themes. Hopefully this darkness is eough to spark a light of change in some readers, so that we can move towards a brighter world. show less

"I wud like to know what is rong with you peeple."

An insanely clever (and fun to read) short story about society's carelessness and cruelty in regards to the environment, told from the perspective of a fox - Fox 8 - who views an act of violence that alters his rose-colored view on human nature.

Unlike a lot of the other reviews on here, I really enjoyed the phonetic grammar. I thought it was a sweet touch that added a little more heart to the narrative.

What an enchanting little jewel of a book! A few years ago, I read through George Saunders' novel, Lincoln in the Bardo (such a strange book, set in a cemetery as Abe Lincoln and his son are pulled back and forth in a dark netherworld), but I was unprepared to be so charmed by this tiny novella. Our protagonist, a little fox, teaches himself English by listening underneath the window of a family whose parents tell their children bedtime stories. He also peruses the letters on the spines of their bookshelves and makes the connection. Voila! We have a literate fox! Sadly, there are major plans afoot in the area around our hero and his merry band of fellow fox denizens. Or, as he would write, "Soon we are standing before a sine, and upon show more that sine are some Yuman letters like the ones I had been lerning...I cud reed it...'Coming soon, FoxViewCommons." Yes, a mall ('mawl') is plopped down right over the world where our fox families reside! "Those werds caused many suden questions in all our branes." I will leave it at that, but I will put it this way: you will not see me wearing fox fur scarves or fox fur trousers when we cross paths again! show less