Word: foxã
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2001-2001
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...quarter of the way through Borrowed Finery, novelist Paula Fox??s new memoir, the author’s father makes a fitting observation. “People who’ve been parceled out and knocked around,” he says, “are always returning to the past, retracing their steps.” At 78, with six novels and 21 children’s works behind her, Fox is finally lending credence to the statement, offering an elegant, if fragmentary, portrait of her first 20 years...
...Spanish grandmother and wildly unstable uncles bookended 16 months on an extravagant and expansive sugarcane plantation in Cuba, where her grandmother worked as a companion to a wealthy relative, and where, Fox says, “no one said my name for hours at a time.” Fox??s parents repeatedly sent for her through the years, from Martha’s Vineyard, Florida and ultimately California, providing her with a few glamorous days only to pass her off on yet another friend or relative...
Such a chronological description of Fox??s early years, however, belies the content and structure of her memoir. Borrowed Finery is not a work of autobiography, and those looking for a comprehensive account of Fox??s upbringing will be disappointed. Rather than a coherent and patterned narrative, Borrowed Finery is a smattering of Fox??s memories and experiences, a collection of impressions—of places, of people, of kindnesses and betrayals. Geographical locations replace dates as the signalers of time, with each section of the book bearing simply the name of the place...
...fact, only 12 million people tuned in Wednesday night to see the premiere of Fox??s newest attempt to capitalize on America’s covert voyeurism. But clearly voyeurism is no match for genuine innovation. As a point of comparison, 50 million viewers watched the final episode of Survivor, the now legendary benchmark for reality...
...baseness is no replacement for innovation. The difference between the real innovators and Fox??s knock-offs demonstrates the real flaw in voyeurism as a marketing scheme: it self-destructs. The rush of novelty quickly dissipates and the threshold of curiosity creeps higher. At some point, terminal apathy sets in and a viewer becomes unshockable. The resulting cynicism among viewers, and their disconcerting attempts to recreate fantasy in a now dissatisfying life, seem undesirable if not outright destructive to individuals and society...