Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang
by Joyce Carol Oates
Foxfire: Confessions of a...
Joyce Carol Oates |
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Read in November, 2006
I remember seeing the movie based on this book in Blockbuster shortly after it came out on video, but I kept confusing it in my head with The Craft. So maybe that's why I was surprised to learn that, not only was it a book, but it was a book by Joyce Carol Oates.
I still haven't seen the movie, although I did Tivo an airing of it on Lifetime recently, but I gather that they decided to set it in the present day. The book is set in the 50's, where even the gangs seemed more innocent and quaint (O...more
I still haven't seen the movie, although I did Tivo an airing of it on Lifetime recently, but I gather that they decided to set it in the present day. The book is set in the 50's, where even the gangs seemed more innocent and quaint (O...more
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Read in January, 2006
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 ove...more
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 ove...more
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Read in March, 2008
I really liked this book, but I didn't LOVE it, somehow. It was a great story, and it expanded my horizons, getting to know a group of teen girls from the lower socio-economic classes in the mid-1950s as they form a female empowerment "gang." Their escapades and the final tragedy were fascinating reading, and I loved the way the story was told, from the perspective of the gang archivist. And once again, I loved Oates' writing style. It fit the story perfectly. But somehow, I didn't co...more
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FOXFIRE is a white girl gang with a radical feminist leader, Legs. The members of the gang don't meet up to radical feminist standards, most are racist. Legs, however, develops a strong feminist analysis at age 14. She identifies men - capitalists and otherwise - and some women (prison guards and others co-opted by the patriarchy) as the enemy. She also espouses female solidarity, leading FOXFIRE on missions to exact revenge against sexual assailants who attack women in and out FOXFIRE, and clas...more
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Read in September, 2007
I can't really say that I didn't like it, but the stream-of-conscious, shifting point-of-view narrative style didn't appeal to me. Because I'm in school and reading competes with homework, I can't really read anything that doesn't propel me forward. If I have to make myself read something for pleasure, it won't be read at all. Still, if I had the time, I probably would have finished it and maybe even really liked it. I still want to read Joyce Carol Oates - that was my reason for checking this b...more
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The myracle of systerhood makes me tired. Not nearly as bad as the movie -- much more expansive and less smug. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I don't want to hear about these girls' emerging strengths and strange new feelings about growing hair in places there was no hair before. No; it's not really that bad. After all, it's Joyce Carol Oates, not Judy Blume. However, I just found it hard to care what happened to these characters.
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Read in June, 2003
recommends it for:
rebellious ladies
When I found this on my roommates bedroom floor, I read the back and thought, "You have to be effing kidding me. Another girl gang book by Joyce Carol Oates, of all people?" Surprisingly, I loved it. Fun, funny, and just slightly unbelievable, but, like a lot of her writing, you just don't care that it's not exactly plausible. I liked the characters who did things that I only talked about. God bless 'em. A good read.
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Read in April, 1998
recommends it for:
girls, women who run with foxes
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.
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i keep trying to outgrow this book, and i keep failing. every time i read it i think "damn this is the best book ever." i like Oates, and i know she writes the same book over and over and sometimes they're wonderful (Blonde, Because It Is Bitter...) and sometimes... not. but FOXFIRE is her best by far. the most real, the most visceral... my favorite.
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this book is awesome and a thousand times more badass than that sucky movie that we all went to see because they had hot girls kinda making out but not really. well, in the book, it's the 50's and the girl gang really does some crazy shit and there's for reals making out and licking booze off of nipples after givng each other stick and poke tattoos.
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I really recommend this book.
You know they can't last forever. You wonder and wait for the consequence, then when they come you wish they hadn't.
I can understand how some people dislike the subject matter. A girl gang. But to be honest I found it a little inspiring. Not too inspiring (haha) but good enough for the story to stay with me.
You know they can't last forever. You wonder and wait for the consequence, then when they come you wish they hadn't.
I can understand how some people dislike the subject matter. A girl gang. But to be honest I found it a little inspiring. Not too inspiring (haha) but good enough for the story to stay with me.
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Read in January, 1995
recommended to Pearl by:
Caitlinrecommends it for: ages 14 and up
I read this while I was in middle school. The movie was lousy, but the book is awesome! It really gives you a sense of adventure, feminism, and struggle. Joyce Carol Oates prose is always edged, and her story telling is haunting.
Excellent read! Be prepared to be amazed.
Excellent read! Be prepared to be amazed.
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Read in August, 2007
Not sure how far I'm going to get in this one. I was looking for Because it is Bitter, and Because it is my Heart... but the library didn't have it so I got this. So far I'm just not into it. Seeing its lukewarm ratings on here isn't very inspiring either.
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Read in April, 1997
recommends it for:
girls who kick ass
i cannot tell you what a heavy influence this book had on my teenage years. you want to read this, you want to be this, and when you get old and grey, you want to pretend this is what you were up to when you were young and snotty. it's awesome.
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Read in August, 2007
it's kinda like "stand by me" but it's about girls. i read this book in a few days, which is a big statement about this book, because usually i'll get half-way through a book, put it down, start a new book, and finish the first book a year later.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 1999
way better than the movie. i didn't even know this was a movie when i was recommending it to my friends - then they're all like 'oh my god, angelina jolie is in that movie' and i'm all like - whatever. it's fucken joyce carol oates, bitches.
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Amazing book about a girl gang. I have read this three or four times. The movie is only LOOSELY based on the book. I reccomend experiencing both. I particularily reccomend listening to the soundtrack from the movie while reading the book.
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Read in June, 2006
I haven't seen the movie, but I really love this book. Oates completely transforms her writing style in every story she tackles, and this is no exception. A fascinating story of radical feminism, vengeance, violence, and sisterhood.
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Read in May, 1998
What could have been a truly terrible adult novel about teenage girls in rebellion is a powerful, weird and striking book. (And the movie is a poor substitute despite having Jenny Lewis in it. Yes, that Jenny Lewis.)
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Read in January, 1993
Loved the writing style - this was my first JCO book and for a while I wasnt sure what I thought, but the more I read the more I loved it. Went out later and bought a rack of her books from a used book store.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.72 (713 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.31 (29 ratings) number of reviews: 61popular shelves
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"The strangeness of Time. Not in its passing, which can seem infinite, like a tunnel whose end you can't see, whose beginning you've forgotten, but in the sudden realization that something finite, has passed, and is irretrievable."
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