New Releases by Paula Fox

One of The Atlantic''s Great American Novels One of the New York Times'' 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years "A towering landmark of postwar Realism...A sustained work of prose so lucid and fine it seems less written than carved." —David Foster Wallace Otto and Sophie Bentwood live in a changing neighborhood in Brooklyn. Their stainless-steel kitchen is newly installed, and their Mercedes is parked curbside. After Sophie is bitten on the hand while trying to feed a stray, perhaps rabies-infected cat, a series of small and ominous disasters begin to plague the Bentwoods'' lives, revealing the fault lines and fractures in a marriage—and a society—wrenching itself apart. First published in 1970 to wide acclaim, Desperate Characters stands as one of the most dazzling and rigorous examples of the storyteller''s craft in postwar American literature — a novel that, according to Irving Howe, ranks with " Billy Budd, The Great Gatsby, Miss Lonelyhearts, and Seize the Day."

"Chekhovian. . . . Every line of Fox''s story, every gesture of her characters, is alive and surprising."—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times On the eve of their trip to Africa, Laura Maldonada Clapper and her husband, Desmond, sit in a New York City hotel room, drinking scotch-and-sodas and awaiting the arrival of three friends: Clara Hansen, Laura''s timid, brow-beaten daughter from a previous marriage; Carlos, Laura''s flamboyant and charming brother; and Peter Rice, a melancholy editor whom Laura hasn''t seen for over a year. But what begins as a bon voyage party soon parlays into a bitter, claustrophobic clash of family resentment. From the hotel room to the tony restaurant to which the five embark, Laura presides over the escalating innuendo and hostility with imperial cruelty, for she is hiding the knowledge that her mother, the family matriarch, has died of a heart attack that morning. A novel as intense as it is unerringly observed, The Widow''s Children is another revelation of the storyteller''s art from the incomparable Paula Fox.

"Vividly rendered...haunting...[Paula Fox] writes with silken ease and a sensitivity to nuance." — Newsday In 1941, twenty-three-year-old Helen Bynum leaves home for the first time and sets out from rural New York to find her Aunt Lulu, an aging actress in New Orleans. There she finds a life of passion and adventure, possibilities and choices. Falling in with a bohemian group of intellectuals, she discovers romance and sex, friendship and risk, her world mirrored by the steamy mystery of the French Quarter.

"Not only can Fox see, she can hear, she can feel."—Zadie Smith, Harper''s This gathering of Paula Fox''s short work spans her illustrious career, from 1965 to the present including perfectly turned stories; pointed, engaging essays; and raw yet eloquent memoir.

Newbery Medal–winning author Paula Fox’s gripping and sensitive portrayal of a teenage girl who discovers her father is not the man she thought he was. Catherine Ames’s father, Harry, has always been a mystery. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she has spent most of her life in a Montreal boarding school. When Harry suggests a month-long stay with him at his summer cabin in Nova Scotia, Catherine is thrilled. Finally she’ll have the kind of relationship with her father that other girls at school have with theirs. But the bright summer quickly darkens. Harry drinks—a lot. The more Catherine witnesses his drinking, the more she begins to hate him. Only, Catherine can’t help but love him too. A travel writer with a poet’s tongue, Harry is clever and exciting, and tells wonderful stories—until he drinks again, and the playful father that takes her on picnics becomes someone dark and frightening. How can the man she grew up wishing to be close to seem so far away? And how can Catherine bring him back to her? A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, The Moonlight Man is a lyrical and emotional account of love, acceptance, and the difficult lessons of growing up.

A Newbery Honor Book and Winner of the Christopher Award: A young boy fires a forbidden rifle—and must face the consequences. Ned Wallis’s minister father made him promise not to touch the rifle until he turns fourteen. But the eleven-year-old can’t resist sneaking outside and trying it out, just once. Ned takes aim, and fires—just as a dark shadow passes in front of him. When he looks up, a flickering face passes across the attic window. Someone was watching. When a feral cat appears outside the house of an elderly neighbor, with dried blood on its matted fur and a missing eye, Ned begins to wonder: Could he have shot this animal that night? Full of guilt and terrified that his secret will come out, Ned starts caring for the one-eyed cat. But will he be able to come clean about his broken promise and the shot in the dark? Spring brings the chance for redemption and a surprising revelation from an unexpected source in this New York Times Outstanding Children’s Book of the Year.

Eleven-year-old Clay must find a home on the streets of New York City in this award-winning, heartbreakingly honest novel. He was eleven years old, and he had never felt so alone in his life. Clay Garrity lived a normal life until his father lost his job and abandoned the family. Now his pregnant mother has deserted him too, leaving Clay alone in a welfare hotel with a jar of peanut butter and half a loaf of bread. Fearing being placed in foster care, Clay runs away. Alone in the city, Clay wanders down streets with boarded-up buildings and through dark alleys, until he comes to a small triangular park that looks like an island in a stream. In the light of a street lamp, he sees cardboard boxes, blankets, bundles—and people. Some are lying on benches, others inside boxes. Two of the men, Calvin and Buddy, offer to share their shelter, and Clay is grateful to have a place to stay during the bitter November cold. Before long, Calvin, Buddy, and Clay form a family amid the threatening dangers and despair of the streets. Clay knows that leaving the streets and going into foster care means that he may never see his parents again. But if he stays, he may not survive at all. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, this acclaimed novel offers an intensely moving and candid look at the all-too-real lives of homeless teens.

A hilarious tale from Newbery Medal winner Paula Fox: Maurice loves to collect things—but what happens when he collects too many things? Eight-year-old Maurice is a collector. It doesn’t matter how big or how small it is—if he likes something, he’ll bring it home with him. His newest addition is a dried octopus hanging by a string from the ceiling. There’s also a bottle of dead beetles, four painted turtles, and practical stuff like nails, screws, and wires. His parents have tried everything to persuade Maurice to get rid of the junk, giving him trumpet lessons and even a dog, but nothing can compare to the pleasure of discovering treasures in the nooks and crannies of New York City. Then one day, his parents tell him they have a surprise . . . A humorous and heartwarming story from Hans Christian Andersen Award–winning author Paula Fox, Maurice’s Room is perfect for kids of all ages marching to the beat of their own drums.

Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award:A young girl learns some hard truths about human nature in this thought-provoking, beautifully crafted novel. Tomorrow, Emma’s uncle is coming to take her to his house on Long Island while her father undergoes surgery and her mother stays with him in hospital. For two whole weeks, Emma will be stuck with her father’s half-sister: the strange, bossy Aunt Bea. Luckily, Emma makes a friend at the beach, Bertie, and the two girls begin building a village made entirely of shells. There’s the mayor’s house, constructed of sand dollars and with a roof of pinecones, and the main street with white bubble shells. Every day the girls add to their village by the sea. Then, just before Emma is to return home, something awful happens. In this thoughtful novel, Newbery Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Paula Fox offers an unflinching and candid depiction of forgiveness and unconditional love.

National Book Award Winner: A grieving teenager wonders if she’ll ever understand anything—especially the big things—in life. Time passed, and all the minutes hurt . . . After her father’s death, Victoria Finch’s life changes completely. To save money, she and her mother move from Boston to a small house in the town of New Oxford. There, Victoria attends school in a building that resembles a train station, where no one pays her much attention. Then she meets Hugh Todd, the rich kid who runs the school’s theater club. He’s charming, adventurous, and encouraging, and he takes particular interest in Victoria’s writing. Hugh’s presence reinvigorates Victoria’s life. But he needs something as well, and as the months pass, Victoria realizes that his friendship comes at a high price. A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, A Place Apart is a lyrical novel of loss, friendship, and moving on.

From Newbery Medal–winning author Paula Fox,an isolated young girl discovers surprising revelations about her grandmother—and herself. Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Elizabeth Benedict is furious when she finds out she’ll be spending a month with her grandmother in Maine. She’s sure she’s being packed off to a remote island to live in a cottage without electricity or plumbing so that her parents can be alone with her new baby brother. While her grandmother spends her days painting, Elizabeth explores the island. She is drawn to Aaron, the strange son of their only neighbors. One day, something happens that changes everything—and reveals the real reason she was sent to Pring Island. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, this incandescent novel takes on themes of isolation, creativity, and family as an elderly woman confronts her own mortality with acceptance and dignity.

Newbery Medal winner Paula Fox depicts a fateful summer on the mysterious Greek island of Thasos in this “haunting tale” (TheNew York Times Book Review). Lily Corey and her older brother, Paul, have been summering on the Greek island of Thasos with their parents. For Lily, it’s been fun hanging out with her brother, exploring the island, and studying ancient mythology and archaeology—until they meet Jack Hemmings. When Paul and Jack become friends, Lily feels left out. She thinks Jack is a show-off and a fake. She also knows he’s sad and lonely, yet she still wishes the boys would include her on their wild adventures. Then, one day, Jack shows off too much and something terrible happens . . . Amid the wilds of an exotic Greek island, Lily and the Lost Boy is the “beautifully crafted” (Kirkus Reviews) story of a young girl coming of age and discovering her courage and compassion.

Sophie och Otto Bentwood lever ett liv som på ytan är ganska händelselöst, ibland snudd på glamouröst. De bor i Brooklyn i New York, han är advokat, hon översättare, de går på cocktailbjudningar och har Goethes samlade verk i bokhyllan. Men redan i romanens början drabbas de av ett olycksbådande tecken. Sophie blir biten av en hemlös katt när hon försöker mata den. Handen svullnar upp, men Sophie drar sig för att gå till en läkare. Och såret i handen är bara det första av många omen i deras liv. Till varon runt omkring dem känns plötsligt hotfull, gamla vänskaper sägs upp och den trasighet de ser omkring sig blir mer och mer en bild av deras egen vardag. Paula Fox, född 1923, har gett ut drygt tjugo titlar för barn och unga, flera av dem prisbelönta, och sammanlagt sex romaner för vuxna. Förtvivlade människor fick ett entusiastiskt mottagande när den kom ut 1970, men föll sedan i glömska. Tack vare författare som Jonathan Franzen och David Foster Wallace har romanen fått ett andra liv.

An exotic, heartbreaking memoir that should finally earn Paula Fox, a distinguished novelist and children''s book writer, the audience she has for decades deserved Paula Fox has long been acclaimed as one of America''s most brilliant fiction writers. Borrowed Finery, her first book in nearly a decade, is an astonishing memoir of her highly unusual beginnings. Born in the twenties to nomadic, bohemian parents, Fox is left at birth in a Manhattan orphanage, then cared for by a poor yet cultivated minister in upstate New York. Her parents, however, soon resurface. Her handsome father is a hard-drinking screenwriter who is, for young Paula, "part ally, part betrayer." Her mother is given to icy bursts of temper that punctuate a deep indifference. How, Fox wonder, is this woman "enough of an organic being to have carried me in her belly"? Never sharing more than a few moments with his daughter, Fox''s father allows her to be shunted from New York City, where she lives with her passive Spanish grandmother, to Cuba, where she roams freely on a relative''s sugar-cane plantation, to California, where she finds herself cast upon Hollywood''s grubby margins. The thread binding these wanderings is the "borrowed finery" of the title-a few pieces of clothing, almost always lent by kind-hearted strangers, that offer Fox a rare glimpse of permanency. Vivid and poetic, Borrowed Finery is an unforgettable book which will swell the legions of Paula Fox''s devoted admiriers.

“Not only can Fox see, she can hear, she can feel.”—Zadie Smith, Harper’s This gathering of Paula Fox’s short work spans her illustrious career, from 1965 to the present including perfectly turned stories; pointed, engaging essays; and raw yet eloquent memoir.

ew York, fine anni Trenta. Annie Gianfala è un’adolescente sola e squattrinata, orfana di madre e abbandonata da un padre pittore che si dedica, da anni, unicamente alla propria arte. Ma Annie ha un sogno, una direzione: vuole andare a Ovest, come i pionieri un secolo prima di lei e come lei venuti dal nulla, dalla polvere delle strade, dall’aria salata del mare. In autostop raggiunge così la California, dove viene fagocitata da una Hollywood feroce e splendente come un miraggio nel deserto. Si sposa con un marinaio che poche ore dopo le nozze le comunicherà la sua imminente partenza verso la lontanissima Murmansk: passata in poche ore dal conforto di un amore all’abbandono, Annie si lascerà così sedurre da chiunque possa, in qualche modo, tornarle utile. Così facendo rinasce e si reinventa, strana creatura a metà tra l’ammaliatrice consumata e la fanciulla da cogliere in fiore: gli uomini la adorano e lei li accoglie, con un distacco che va al di là del disprezzo. Fino a quando non farà ritorno nella Costa orientale, i sogni ormai spenti in ricordi gualciti, da dimenticare. Storia di una formazione tra le più originali e impervie, Costa occidentale è un malinconico canto dedicato agli anni che emergevano dalla Grande Depressione e alla fine delle illusioni di un’America che pure avrebbe ritrovato la propria grandezza di lì a breve. Ed è un abbraccio autentico alla fragilità umana, a conferma della statura e l’unicità di Paula Fox nel Pantheon dei grandi autori contemporanei.

Im Jahre 1941, kurz nachdem ihr Vater, der die Familie schon vor langer Zeit verlassen hat, gestorben ist, verläßt Helen Bynum zum ersten Mal ihren kleinen Heimatort im Staat New York und reist nach New Orleans. Helen ist erst dreiundzwanzig, und voller Staunen, Liebe und Verwunderung, überrascht, manchmal auch schockiert oder ängstlich beobachtet sie das Leben in New Orleans und vor allem in den Bohemienkreisen, in die sie gerät. Helen ist die unschuldigste, offenste Figur, die Paula Fox beschrieben hat, und «Der Gott der Alpträume» ist ihr zärtlichster Roman.

Jacob ist anders. Pauls kleiner Bruder hat das Downsyndrom. Seit er auf der Welt ist, haben seine Eltern nur noch Augen für ihn. Jeder Rülpser, jedes Lachen wird aufmerksam beobachtet. Paul findet Jacob nur peinlich und zieht sich immer mehr von seiner Familie zurück. Bis er eines Tages beschließt, seinen Bruder einfach aus seinem Leben zu streichen. So zu tun, als gäbe es ihn gar nicht. Doch dann passiert etwas, womit Paul nicht gerechnet hat, und ganz langsam kehrt Jacob in Pauls Leben zurück -

Ein Mann sitzt nach einer Beerdigung an einem strahlend hellen Sommertag im Kino, sieht einen Zeichentrickfilm an und fängt plötzlich an zu schreien; eine Frau, die auf einer von einem Ölteppich eingeschlossenen Insel lebt, verliebt sich unsterblich in den alten Künstler, für den sie täglich putzt, ohne kaum je mehr als ein paar Sätze mit ihm gewechselt zu haben; eine Schriftstellerin, bei der es sich um Paula Fox selbst handelt, wird um ein Haar an ihrem eigenen Schreibtisch erschossen, weil Jugendliche im Nachbargarten mit einer geladenen Pistole spielen. Neben ihren Romanen und Jugendbüchern hat Paula Fox seit den 60er-Jahren Erzählungen und kleine Prosastücke geschrieben, die hier zum ersten Mal versammelt sind. Oft sind es kleine, stille Begebenheiten, die sich schliesslich zu etwas Unerhörtem ausweiten und so von den grossen Themen Liebe, Tod und Verlust erzählen. Paula Fox ist eine Meisterin der genauen Beobachtungen, die selbst den einfachsten Situationen eine Poesie abtrotzt, die einen gefangen nimmt. Mit ihrer feinen, klaren und eindringlichen Sprache erschafft sie eine ganz eigene Welt, in der die Grenzen zwischen Autobiographie und Fiktion irgendwann nahezu aufgehoben scheinen."Die Zigarette und andere Stories" versammelt Texte von den 60er-Jahren bis heute, die noch einmal die kluge Beobachtungsgabe und die Menschenkenntnis einer grossen zeitgenössischen Autorin, deren Leben und Schreiben untrennbar miteinander verbunden sind, unter Beweis stellen. Paula Fox wurde 1923 in New York geboren, wo sie auch heute lebt. Sie veröffentlichte zahlreiche Kinderbücher, für die sie 1978 mit dem ''Hans-Christian-Andersen-Preis'' ausgezeichnet wurde, sechs Romane und zuletzt ihre Autobiographien ''In fremden Kleidern'' (C.H. Beck 2003) und ''Der kälteste Winter'' (C.H. Beck 2006).

Subito dopo la sua nascita nel 1923, Paula viene abbandonata dal padre, uno sceneggiatore di Hollywood con il debole per l’alcol, e dalla madre, starlette cubana glamorous e anaffettiva. Soccorsa dalla nonna, la bambina passa di mano in mano e di città in città: da New York a Cuba, dal convitto di Montreal a una squallida stanza ammobiliata a San Francisco. Sopravvissuta al lato più oscuro di Hollywood, tra fugaci apparizioni di attori famosi – Buster Keaton, John Wayne, Harpo Marx – e i luccichii di un mondo in dissolvenza, cullata dalla gentilezza degli sconosciuti, educata alla vita da zio Elwood, un severo pastore protestante, si sposerà a diciassette anni con un marinaio aspirante attore da cui avrà una figlia che darà a sua volta in adozione. L’indimenticabile romanzo autobiografico di Paula Fox si chiude con l’incontro, avvenuto a distanza di decenni, prima con la figlia perduta, e poi con l’anziana madre moribonda. Il vestito della festa è il ritratto composto di un’infanzia alla deriva, la delicata testimonianza di quanto – quanto poco, in fondo – ha bisogno un bambino per sopravvivere.

Pobre George es la primera novela de Paula Fox, por fin reeditada en inglés desde su primera publicación en 1967, y publicada ahora por primera vez en español por El Aleph.George Mecklin es un profesor inquieto, discreto de una escuela privada de Maniatan. George es un hombre que vive deprimido, con la sensación que ha perdido el norte. Un día descubre que un joven adolescente, Ernest, ha irrumpido en su casa sin permiso. Y entonces George, en lugar de llamar a la policia, como insiste que haga su mujer, decide convertirse en tutor del chico. En consecuencia, su vida da un giro radical.Pobre George nos ofrece un retrato penetrante de la vida americana de los años sesenta, una exploración de la anomia de la vida del suburbio.

Ivan ist ein einsames Kind: Sein Vater ist meist verreist, seine Mutter seit vielen Jahren tot. Einzig die haitianische Haushälterin Giselle kümmert sich liebevoll um ihn. Das ändert sich, als sein Vater beschließt, ein Portrait von Ivan anfertigen zu lassen: In dem jungen Maler Matt und der eigens für ihn engagierten Vorleserin Miss Manderby findet Ivan neue Freunde ...

“La prosa de Fox fluye como agua cristalina, pero debajo hay una corriente fuerte y oscura: las implacables fuerzas del tiempo y la pérdida de seres cercanos.” Kirkus Review“Una gran novela.” New York Times Book Review “Fox sabe cómo tramar una historia, cómo utilizar el lenguaje más rico para describir sobriamente unas escena y cómo crear grandes personajes.” Vogue“Una de nuestras novelistas más inteligentes.” The NationHelen Bynum se va a Nueva Orleáns a vivir con su tía Lulu, actriz jubilada y alcohólica empedernida. A pesar de su carácter irascible, Helen se queda en la cálida y lánguida ciudad, muy diferente al ambiente frío y gris del de su pueblo natal Poughkeepsie. En Nueva Orleáns conocerá por primera vez la libertad y la posibilidad de ser ella misma. Rodeada por el afecto de sus nuevos amigos –un poeta y su amante, un elegante homosexual y un joven apuesto hijo de un rabino entre otros- Helen se siente segura y protegida. Pero a medida que toma consciencia de la inminencia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Europa, Helen descubre el lado oscuro de este momento tan dulce, la cara gris de las relaciones sociales de Nueva Orleáns y del aspectos desconocidos de sus amigos. Felizmente rescatada del olvido por el escritor norteamericano Jonathan Franzen, la narrativa de Paula Fox merece un lugar de privilegio entre los grandes nombres de su generación como Philip Roth, Saul Bellow o John Updike. Abandonada por sus padres al nacer, la vida de Paula Fox (Nueva York, 1923) es un continuo tránsito por hogares de acogida y ciudades (en Cuba, Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá), durante el cual ejerce los más variados oficios, estudia letras en la Columbia University y, finalmente, ya en su madurez, decide dedicarse en plenitud a la creación literaria. Ha escrito más de treinta obras (La cometa rota, La danza de los esclavos, El gato tuerto, entre otras) para público infantil, cuyo conjunto se hizo merecedor del prestigioso premio Andersen en 1978. Su obra se completa con seis novelas para adultos entre las que cabe destacar Personajes desesperados (El Aleph, 2005) y un libro de memorias, Elegancia prestada.

Fox describes her movements across Europe''s scrambled borders as a journalist in 1946: unplanned trips to empty castles and ruined cathedrals, a stint in bombed-out Warsaw in the midst of the Communist election takeovers, and each place echoing with the horrors of the war.

Un famélico gato callejero muerde a Sophie cuando ésta le da de comer. Ella, una atractiva mujer de cuarenta años a la que la vida parece tratar muy bien, y Otto, su marido, forman una de esas parejas burguesas neoyorquinas de finales de los sesenta que podrían despertar la sana envidia de cualquiera: un Mercedes, casa en Long Island, las obras completas de Goethe en su biblioteca... El incidente del gato, en apariencia banal, desata una serie de pequeños e inquietantes desastres comienzan a jalonar su vida revelando fisuras de un matrimonio (y una sociedad) que se está desintegrando. Tras este arranque aparentemente anecdótico, tras la fina ironía de los diálogos y la sucesión de cataclismos domésticos que habrán de producirse, late la tragedia existencial que sustenta todas las historias de Paula Fox: la incapacidad de sus personajes para comprender la verdadera esencia de la vida, que subyace a la apariencia de las cosas, la complejidad de los sentimientos humanos y el desmoronamiento de una sociedad cada vez más artificiosa. Felizmente rescatada del olvido por el escritor norteamericano Jonathan Franzen, la narrativa de Paula Fox merece un lugar de privilegio entre los grandes nombres de su generación como Philip Roth, Saul Bellow o John Updike. Abandonada por sus padres al nacer, la vida de Paula Fox (Nueva York, 1923) es un continuo tránsito por hogares de acogida y ciudades (en Cuba, Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá), durante el cual ejerce los más variados oficios, estudia letras en la Columbia University y, finalmente, ya en su madurez, decide dedicarse en plenitud a la creación literaria.Ha escrito más de treinta obras (La cometa rota, La danza de los esclavos, El gato tuerto, entre otras) para público infantil, cuyo conjunto se hizo merecedor del prestigioso premio Andersen en 1978. Su obra se completa con seis novelas para adultos entre las que cabe destacar Strange Characters, God of Nightmares y un libro de memorias, Elegancia prestada.