Fox 8by George Saunders
Published by Bloomsbury
Fable, short story
An enchanting and darkly comic fable of human greed and nature, from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, exquisitely illustrated by Chelsea Cardinal
Fox 8 has always been curious, and a bit of a daydreamer. And, by hiding outside houses at dusk and listening to children's bedtime stories, he has learned to speak 'Yuman'.
The power of words and the stories built from them is intoxicating for a fox with a poetic soul, but there is 'danjur' on the horizon: a new shopping mall is being built, cutting off his pack's food supply. To save himself and his fellow foxes, Fox 8 will have to set out on a harrowing quest from the wilds of nature deep into the dark heart of suburbia.
Fox 8 is cleverly written short story: the narrator is a fox called Fox 8, who lives in a forest nearby construction side where a mall is being build. He's a dreamer fox, who likes to listen humans tell goodnight stories to their children - that's how he learned to speak 'Yuman' as he calls it. His spelling is not the best, and that what makes the story more real, more heart-warming.
A tragedy strikes when the construction of mall destroys Fox 8 and his pack's food supply. They're starving, and the pack is scared to move or approach the humans for food until Fox 8 and his friend venture to the mall, to the food court, in search of food.
Fox 8 is a dark fable about human greed, heartbreak, and how one event can drastically change everything. Fox 8 learns the hard way that not all humans are kind and giving, and rarely care for wild life. Saunders does splendid job weaving such profound tale delicately. I went in without much expectations, and Fox 8 certainly exceeded any expectations I could have had. It is a story, which everyone should sacrifice a little time to read and absorb, and maybe people would learn from it. I definitely recommend this to everyone.
5 of 5 stars
