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Joyce Carol Oates

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Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang Paperback – August 1, 1994

by Joyce Carol Oates (Author)

4.4 130 ratings

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New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates’s strongest and most unsparing novel yet—an always engrossing, often shocking evocation of female rage, gallantry, and grit.

The time is the 1950s. The place is a blue-collar town in upstate New York, where five high school girls join a gang dedicated to pride, power, and vengeance on a world that seems made to denigrate and destroy them.

Here is the secret history of a sisterhood of blood, a haven from a world of male oppressors, marked by a liberating fury that burns too hot to last. 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. Amid scenes of violence and vengeance lies this novel’s greatest power: the exquisite, astonishing rendering of the bonds that link the Foxfire girls together. Foxfire reaffirms Joyce Carol Oates’s place at the very summit of American writing.

Print length

328 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date

August 1, 1994
Dimensions

7.99 x 5.31 x 0.7 inches
ISBN-10

0452272319
ISBN-13

978-0452272316
Lexile measure

1520L
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Oates depicts a gang of five adolescent girls growing up amidst violence and frustration in upstate New York during the 1950s.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for Foxfire

“Brilliant...Foxfire burns brightly...exhilarating.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderful, beautiful, a vivid novel.”—Washington Post

“Profound...a riveting whirlwind of a novel.”—Los Angeles Times

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group (August 1, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0452272319
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0452272316
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1520L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.99 x 5.31 x 0.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #774,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,825 in Literary Criticism & Theory
- #7,502 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #36,122 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 130 ratings

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Joyce Carol Oates

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Joyce Carol Oates is the author of more than 70 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, essays, and criticism, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honors are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

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4.4 out of 5

130 global ratings

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John Conner

Good Movie - Better Book

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2005

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FOXFIRE by Joyce Carol Oates is a haunting tale of the relationships developed among groups of outcasts and "leftovers," marginalized by the established mainstream. The subtitle is "Confessions of a Girl Gang," and that is exactly what is told. The story is set in upstate New York but could be anywhere in American suburbia. The group of girls gang together, at first out of circumstance, then survival, and finally love. Despite the mostly pathetic personality of the characters, they become endearing and fit nicely into the world Oates has created. I hesitate to recommend FOXFIRE to those unfamiliar with Oates' pastiche narrative style and penchant for (mostly mild) violence in her stories, but this did grip me and I considered it a "page turner."

The movie version is only loosely based on the novel, with more differences than similarities. Even with the successful cult following, which is at least partly due to Angelina Jolie's subsequent fame, the book outshines the movie's comparative mediocrity.

18 people found this helpful

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Allison Kalman

Foxfire Burns and Burns

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2000

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I read this book a year ago, and I have reread it many times since. I suppose I am the target audience, I'm a girl, was 16 when I first read it, and I felt pretty alone at the time. But each time I read it, not matter how I'm feeling, it enthralls me from start to finish. The characters are deep, not the stereotypical teenagers you get in most novels. You understand where each character is coming from, what there motivation is. Nothing is ever out of character in this book. Plus, you know a book is great when it randomly pops up in your mind, and you're inspired to reread the entire thing on a regular bases. This work is pure genius, and it will be burning in your mind for years to come.

13 people found this helpful

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Mrs D. AwesomePants

WOW. WAY different than the film version.

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2002

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I knew that the film (Starring Angelina Jolie and Jenny Shimizu... yum!) version was based LOOSELY on this book - but i didn't realize HOW loosely! The book is 1,000,000 times better than the movie. The characters are more real (not 5 very attractive girls being a little "naughty"), the acts of rebellion more extreme, the setting (small blue collar town in New York State, 1950's) more appropriate... and it's just all more compelling. The novel really helps you get into the mindset of the sisterhood of the gang - and is more racey. Everything was toned down for the film, and loses a lot of the intensity.
Even if you didn't like the film - you should check out this book. It exhibits some female rebellion in a time/place where women could hardly expect the respect that FOXFIRE demands.

30 people found this helpful

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toby

i love this book

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2013

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Just don't go into it expecting it to be just like the movie because its not. Its set during a very different time. The characters are far more raw and at times unlikeable. The movie was a sugar coated fabrication shadowed after this story. Don't get me wrong. I love the movie but I keep them very separate.

2 people found this helpful

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WirelessGoose

Correct book, bad internal quality

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2020

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Cover was in great shape but almost every page had pink highlighter writing on it. Definitely would not have considered this a "very good" quality copy of this book. On time shipping and is the correct book so 3 stars.

One person found this helpful

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J. Anderson

Powerful and truly real from start to finish, you feel it al

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2004

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Joyce Carol Oates finds a way to bring you back to this time, to this place and become on of these girls going through their pains and sufferings and ups and downs. These characters are all real they are either you or your daughter or your friend and you understand the times and the hardships and why they feel they need to act the way they do because she makes you one of them. `It burns and burns and never looks back'. That is something this book truly does.

4 people found this helpful

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Kristen

Just awesome.

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2013

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This has always been one of my favorite movies and the book is not that easy to find. Both the movie and the book are amazing.

One person found this helpful

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Mikal Hemingway

Item came on time

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2013

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The item came in the condition that was specified on the product description. I was very pleased with the purchase and shipping method.

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Mrs C Hussain

thank you

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

thank you

Clothilde

Amazing book!

Reviewed in France on December 1, 2013

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I wanted to read it after watching the movie, and I was not disappointed. The book is even better! This would make a great gift for a teenage girl, or really any girl you know!

lynsey turner

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

very happy thank you

schazzie

物語の終わり方に感動

Reviewed in Japan on August 9, 2003

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この年頃の自分のことを思い出せば、彼女たちのグループ結成の気持ちの高揚は、手に取るようにわかる。また「女の子」というのを必要以上に強調しているような気がするが、それもまた見当違いではないか？
たしかに主人公も活躍するメンバーも全部女の子には違いないが、それを軸にハモンドという町、そこに住む人々を描いているのだ。ひいては、50年代のアメリカをも描いている。オーツの視点は、単なる「女の子」に終わっているのではなく、もっと大きなものを見据えていると思う。
そしてフォックスファイアは、基本的には女の子の味方ではあるが、大きな意味でとらえれば、弱い者の味方である。最初は正義感に溢れていたはずが、最後は取り返しのつかない犯罪を犯すに至る。その過程が悲しい。彼女!たちの活躍は痛快なのだが、その裏で、各自の苦悩も大きくなっていくのだ。
この子たちはどうなっていくのだろう？という興味で、後半どんどん読んでいったが、最後はさすが多作のオーツといった感じで、きれいにきっちりまとまっている。

5 people found this helpful

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Kathi Anderson

good

Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2019

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good book

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