‘Fox and I is a mesmerising, beautifully written, and entirely unsentimental book about the connection amongst all things: the author and her fox friend, but also magpies, brown dogs, fawns, voles, and junipers. I learned as much about the meaning of friendship from this book as I have from any work of nonfiction that I’ve ever read.’
Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club
‘The observations of high-desert nature — of wildlife, plants, landscapes, weather — in this book are some of the best you will ever read. The story of Catherine Raven and the fox's friendship charmed me and drew me in completely.’
Ian Frazier, author of Great Plains
‘A tender, shrewd exploration of the redemption that comes when we start to know that we, whoever and wherever we are, are wild things, crucially defined by our relationship with the wild.’
Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast and Being a Human
‘In this tale of wilderness, in the tradition of Thoreau and Steinbeck, Catherine Raven has achieved something unique in the literature of nature writing—genuine love for the wild within the rigour of scientific observation. The voice of this storyteller is startlingly original. I read it breathlessly.’
Andrei Codrescu
‘Both beautiful and moving, as well as philosophically stimulating regarding the approach to anthropomorphism. I have never read this discourse so well explored before. Normally anthropomorphism is used as a criticism and here it is also played as a defence against reductionist science seeking to ‘other’ creatures from the fellowship of feelings for emotional intelligence. A Thoreau for the new Green Enlightenment.’
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of The Eden Project
‘So original and daring and delightful and weird (in the best sense), both on the level of the idea and the level of language … [A] really terrific piece of writing.’
Amanda Fortini (judge for the Montana Festival of the Book)
‘[S]mart and tender … the deftness of her observations erases any suggestion that her connection to Fox is invented or saccharine. It blooms, like any other friendship, from proximity, personality, attention and time … Allowing every animal on the page its full agency, Fox and I crisply upends the hierarchy that places humans at the top of a pyramid. For some readers, this reanimation of wild animals may be painful, a reminder that the ecological destruction we’re collectively perpetrating falls upon conscious, aware beings, who are now tasked with surviving transformed habitats and extreme conditions … By the end of Fox and I, I found myself deeply lonely for the kind of belonging Raven found on the land. How did we end up so distant from our animal friends?’
Katherine E. Standefer, The New York Times Book Review
‘This memoir by a biologist living off the grid in Montana recounts the friendship she developed — friendship is the only word for it — with a wild fox that appeared on her property every day at 4:15 pm. Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk remains one of my favourite memoirs of recent years, and this book promises similar insight into the relationship between humans and animals.’
Tom Beer, Kirkus Reviews, Summer Books 2021
‘[A] book that everyone will be talking about … [A] real-life friendship that mirrors the one between Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince and his fox, full of tenderness and understanding.’
The New York Times
‘Mysterious and magical … At a time when various challenges threaten animal life around the globe, people seem more interested in gleaning insights from other species while they can … Fox and I explores whether true friendship is possible between people and creatures of the wild.’
Wall Street Journal
‘Entrancing … Raven’s gorgeous account of her bond with a fox while living in a remote cabin will open readers’ eyes to the ways humans connect to the natural world and vice versa … If there’s one book you pick up this summer, make it this one.’
Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post
‘What emotional vocabulary can express both the joy and the doubts [Raven] experienced devoting copious time and love to a wild creature? This fanciful, literate, unsentimental and yet deeply felt memoir is her answer … [Raven is] a superb nature writer … [T]he experience of journeying alongside her as she lives with Fox and meditates about him is extremely rewarding … Fox and I will appeal to those who despair about human depredation of the natural world and sense climate change as the looming, existential threat to life. But Raven’s book isn’t a treatise, it isn’t a call to arms, it isn’t political. Perhaps it is best understood as a plea for understanding. Raven needed Fox: He changed her, made her more comfortable in the world. He showed her that even when padding along under the glorious full moon’s light, it’s better to have someone at your side.’
Clare McHugh, Washington Post
‘It’s a familiar story arc: human becomes best friends with a wild animal and life lessons are learned. Yet in biologist and former Glacier National Park ranger Catherine Raven’s hands, the story — of isolation and tender friendship with a wild fox — feels new. Alone in rural Montana after completing her PhD., Raven’s daily fox visitor becomes an unexpected, and necessary, companion. Her memoir reminds us that connection to the natural world comes in many forms.’
Time
‘[A] thoughtful, measured, literary meditation, as told through biologist Catherine Raven's observations as she studies and interacts with a fox in her backyard, even reading him books out loud. Her reflections shine a spotlight on the path out of loneliness, reminding us all that nature itself will ensure none of us are ever truly alone.’
Zibby Owens, Good Morning America
‘In this quiet, charming memoir, Raven recounts her journey to accepting this unusual companion … Throughout, Raven writes about her environment with wonder and reverence but never formality — it’s the easy affection of someone who’s long made family of the natural world.’
Buzzfeed News
‘[A] multi-layered exploration of a world in which humans honour rather than dominate nature … Fox and I takes us out of a relentless focus on the human-built world in ways that invite compassion for nature … That complexity emerges compellingly in the narrative as Fox matures, fathers kits, and expresses his caring for Raven's friendship more and more directly …Fox's exuberance for life left his emotional mark on me, too.’
Barbara J. King, NPR
‘Raven’s extraordinary memoir is a love song to the animal who miraculously arrives in the front yard of her remote cabin every afternoon to be read passages from The Little Prince. A poetic, revelatory portrait of a biologist’s solitary sojourn.’
Oprah Daily
‘Biologist Raven reflects on her relationship with a red fox in her offbeat and charming memoir … For ‘fifteen consecutive days,’ she read Antoine Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince to the fox, and the two formed an unusual bond, spending days together hiking through the forest and carrying on imagined conversations. Along with reverently describing her furry friend … Raven writes poetically about the flora and fauna around her. Rich and meditative, Raven's musings on nature and solitude are delightful company.’
Publishers Weekly
‘The touching memoir of a biologist who befriended a fox in the wilderness … With a scientific depth of examination accompanied by lyrical language, Raven explores the development of the bond between the fox and herself as well as the natural habitat surrounding her home, including the responsibilities of landownership. She also includes relevant references from literature that have inspired her views … A heartfelt meditation on the power of nature and a touching homage to a beloved wild friend.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘This quietly poetic memoir describes the somewhat meandering paths that Raven and Fox, a yearling male and the runt of the litter, traversed to achieve their unusual partnership. Alternating between her story and her observations, she recounts Fox's days of catching voles and avoiding dogs and older foxes and sunbathing on her gravel driveway. She also tells of explaining their relationship to skeptical students who are convinced she is anthropomorphising the human/fox confluence … A soulful and indelible exploration of an interspecies friendship.’
Booklist
‘[A] testament for the meaning and beauty in the small and seemingly insignificant moments in life … written in a lush, elegant style … a book that is taking seriously the idea that wild animals have emotions and desires similar to humans and therefore shouldn’t be treated as either hostile enemies to be killed or stupid creatures to be pitied … showcases real communication and friendship between different species … Right up to the tragic yet hopeful ending, this book is irresistible reading. Lovers of nature will appreciate Raven’s thoughtful writing about the place of humans in the natural world; Lovers of stories will be entranced by the rendering of friendship, and its strange power to change lives. Poignant and thought-provoking, Fox and I will have you re-evaluating your relationship to your local environment and the non-human animals that share it with you.’
Connor Carrns, Open Letters Review
‘This is something altogether different from the latest 'went into the wild to find myself' offering. Raven’s is a memoir unspooled in nature, a first-person account from an unusually observant point of view … Augmenting Raven’s vibrant observations of flora and fauna is her deliberation as a person, scientist, writer. Fox and I balances the fluency of her writing with the pauses she offers Fox — and us. Redemption by way of solitude is offset by the darkness that lurks and lingers. This is the tension upon which the book rides and rests ... Her understanding of mortality prowls page to page … Raven has written a book about reading to a fox that I want to read to anyone or anything that cares to listen. Would that I could read it to Ghost and the fox the next time they meet up.’
William Deverell, Alta
‘Fox and I is a beautiful meditation on life and our connection to animals and the natural world. I have counted many dogs as close friends. I have not, however, had the pleasure of connecting with a wild animal the way Catherine Raven does in this remarkable memoir about her life with Fox. Fans of H is for Hawk who have been waiting for the next stunning animal memoir, have found it in Fox and I.’
Pamela Klinger-Horn, The Valley Bookseller
‘Fox and I is soul-food literature, something to be savoured and then shared. It is a meditative joy and should be snapped up by anyone looking to soften their world; if just for a short time.’
Mary O’Malley, Skylark Bookshop
‘Raven asks so many interesting questions about our connections with nature and animals and, despite her goal to keep to the science and not romanticise, the heart and soul [this] book, ironically perhaps, is our deep connectedness with animals and the natural world and what that says about us as people.’
Susan O’Connor, Penguin Bookshop
‘Catherine Raven reads The Little Prince to Fox every day. Fox listens while playing with a flower. Is this the definition of friendship? Read this engaging book and find out. If you loved H is for Hawk, this is for you.’
Books on the Square
‘This debut is beautiful and moving. [Raven’s] relationship to Fox, the natural world, and civilisation will give every reader much to think about. I love that she tells part of the story from Fox’s perspective; her writing sings in every chapter, but the sheer imagination and empathy of those sections blew me away. I also loved how Raven’s descriptions of how it resonates with her fits so perfectly with her writing about favourite books (The Little Prince, Moby-Dick, and Horton Hears a Who). Although this book is unlike anything else I've read before, it gave me some of the frissons of recognition and awe that I got from reading the works of Farley Mowat and Azar Nafisi — Mowat for his personal observations and love of wild things and Nafisi for her interpretations of literature. This is one of my favourite books in a long time — one I will treasure for myself and give to others.’
Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne’s Book Company
‘Mesmerising, charming, showing the true meaning of friendship … The author, Catherine Raven left home at the age of fifteen and had always been drawn to nature. Working her way through college as a ranger in National Parks, she finally finished her PhD in biology, built a tiny cottage that included her own rainbow room, and taught remotely. But something was missing. She needed someone to talk to. Then one day she noticed a fox that kept coming around at 4:15. He was there along with the annoying magpie and the voles he had tried to relocate … She read Dr. Seuss and The Little Prince to him. She knew as a park ranger that she shouldn’t become personally involved with a wild animal, but no matter how hard they each tried, the forces of nature built their bond of friendship … The author is extremely knowledgeable and shares how one can experience animals and nature in a new and sensitive way. You will also learn a lot about our environment as well.’
Mollie Mitchell, HearthFire Books
‘What a remarkable and unusual memoir whereby the author, a biologist and naturalist, notices on her remote property out west a particularly curious fox. She returns the curiosity and what ensues is a kind of relationship that seems to provide both of them with comfort and connection. As the fox makes regular visits, Catherine Raven notices how much this means to her, eventually leading her to make other changes in her life to invite a deeper sense of belonging to a larger community than she previously imagined for herself. Fox and I is a most rewarding and vivid read.’
Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield’s Books
‘Catherine Raven may not be drawn much to people, preferring to spend her time instead immersed in nature, but it is impossible not to be drawn to Catherine. She is not just a keen observer of non-human life, rooted and mobile, but also one heck of a good storyteller about her Montana floral and faunal neighbours. She does not anthropomorphise her subjects — a charge to which she is highly sensitive, especially when it comes to the red fox at the heart of this book — but she does leave us with a keen appreciation for the complex interrelations within and across species.’
Community Bookstore
‘I loved this story about a woman in the wilderness befriending a fox, reading him The Little Prince. She is a natural scientist, so you feel like you are one with the land and the animals who inhabit it. She is a loner, unafraid to shoot and skin the elk, yet one who also feeds the magpies and fox egg yolks in their shells. It's not quaint, but a real story about what nature can bring to us if we just take the time to care and to look.’
Bank Square Books
‘It turns out foxes, in particular this Fox, has outwitted Nature and has a personality after all. In this enchanting fable-like reminiscence, a scientist, living alone by choice, and a fox come together. The rhythmic and poetic descriptions of the environs and wildlife make this a story you can escape into.’
Vermont Book Shop
‘On the surface, this is a story about a woman befriending a fox, which is in and of itself remarkable enough, but it is also a powerful meditation on nature, living in the world with and without people, as well as the power of literature.’
Cody Morrison, Square Books
‘This isn’t an earnest book. It’s funny and witty and engaging and insightful and whimsical – in fact, there are so many charming passages that I wanted to refer back to later, that my copy looks appropriately dog-eared (for a book about a fox). Raven braids the story of Fox and I like strands of ribbons: Fox is tied up with The Little Prince, while Moby Dick twirls in amongst it. Biology is plaited throughout, together with insights into human nature (as told from the perspective of a true outsider). All of it woven together to make a truly beautiful yarn.’
Gabrielle Williams, Readings
‘Raven writes fluently and evocatively, and she has a dry sense of humour. Fox and I has charm and depth, and there are some beautiful descriptive passages. As a storyteller, Raven has tried hard to balance scientific objectivity and imaginative empathy, but when Fox gazes into her eyes trustingly at arm’s-length, and when one moonlit night he brings his four bouncing fox-kits down to her cottage and leaves her to watch them whilst feigning sleep – well, what could she do but regard him as a friend?’
Dr Ann Skea, The Newtown Review of Books
‘It is not solitude that biologist Catherine Raven discovers when she makes her home in a cabin in the mountainous wilds of Montana. It is a busy world of nature’s intricacies – of voles and mice, wild grasses and blooms, rivers, feral cats, weasels, deer and, oh so importantly, foxes, one special fox. A hardline PhD, disciplined never to anthropomorphise, she struggles to define the relationship she builds with this wild creature who visits at 4.15 in the afternoons. She sits and reads The Little Prince to him, threading Saint-Exupe´ry’s tale through her own. With literary delicacy, she evokes both the science and the beauty of her remote world and has one reaching for Google to see images of native grasses and towering spruces. Unforgettable book.’
Samela Harris, SA Weekend
‘[Raven’s] first non-academic book is a memoir of unique poignancy. Vividly describing her encounters with a companion she never taught to tame, she considers the repurcussions of ownership of living creatures and examines the distinctions between the wild and “boxed” in all species. Fox & I is not a memoir of a painful family history, which is touched on only briefly, but an ecological narrative. From ants in the sagebrush steppe to juniper trees, musk deer and voles, the entire ecosystem figures in this extraordinary tale of connectedness with nature.’
Dasha Maiorova, The Big Issue
‘[R]aven's concerns are about humanity as a whole … We have come to see humanity as apart from nature, a mindset which in this age of automated technology has created bubbles so impervious that whole populations of our species can live entire lives inside them. Now, as the bubbles pop around us, Raven invites us to experience the terrors and joys of the world outside.’
Peter Boyle, The Mercury
