The Foxed Page

Kimberly Ford
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Aug 25, 2025 • 55min

THE BUCCANEERS by Edith Wharton and APPLETV >> Did you even know that the excellent, frothy AppleTV series is based on a classic?? Allow Kimberly to fill in juicy parts that only Wharton can supply!

NO READING REQUIRED! Kimberly is actually really NOT suggesting you read The Buccaneers. You SHOULD, though, read Wharton's The Age of Innocence or The House of Mirth. Her prose is engaging, gorgeous and so fun to read. Listen in to hear all about what happens with Nan and her men, with Laura Testvalley and Dick, with Honoria and Mabel and all the girls. Honestly, it's just such a treat to hear Wharton's writing. Indulge yourself now!
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Aug 21, 2025 • 56min

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODY by Muriel Spark >> Whether you've always loved Spark's sassy, ridiculously inventive prose or whether you're new to her, Kimberly will show you why she's truly a GENIUS.

Ready to head back to school? DREADING back to school ? Allow Kimberly to make the most of this transition. Spark's masterpiece is brief but wow does it pack a punch. Her prose SEEMS simple but her original, sometimes startling syntax, the way she plays with time, and the unique structure of this work mean there's soooo much for Kimberly to dig in to.
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Aug 13, 2025 • 1h 12min

PEDRO PARAMO by Juan Rulfo >> Rulfo suggested you read his MASTERPIECE three times if you want to get it. Allow Kimberly to provide a short cut!

This 1955 novella--it's slim, tricky and SO GOOD--is the bedrock of Mexican literature. Its complexities and virtuoso innovations make it particularly exciting to look at in depth. Kimberly breaks down key elements, explains the revolutionary aspects and helps you understand what the hell is going on. She likes to think she added something new to the conversation: arguing that Pedro Pàramo is NOT in fact magic realism. Listen in to see how you feel about her daring thesis, and end up feeling just a little smarter!
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Aug 6, 2025 • 50min

10:04 by Ben Lerner >> Can you even begin to recall the warmth, the complexity, the genius of this novel from 2014?? Listen in for a deep dive into all the ways that Lerner is SO GOOD.

Lerner says, "Art has to offer more than stylized despair." 10:04 offers so much more! (With, also, some excellent stylized despair.) Kimberly low-key compares the work to Slaughterhouse Five, before diving in to a close look postmodernism, narrative stance and why HUMOR adds so much to this incredible piece of auto-fiction. If you love Lerner, or WANT to love Lerner--listen in!
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Jul 30, 2025 • 40min

THE MOBIUS BOOK by Catherine Lacey >> Whether you were wowed by this inventive fiction-memoir or a little disappointed, allow Kimberly to help you dig deeper into this original text.

NO SPOILERS! Kimberly picked up this hybrid memoir-novel because she was intrigued by Lacey's inventiveness. Listen in to see which parts of the text met her high expectations and which might have fallen a bit short. And if you haven't thought through the difference between a mobius strip and the infinity symbol, Kimberly promises to add a little insight to your Mobius Book experience..
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Jul 23, 2025 • 1h 1min

SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut >> Everyone, honestly, should (re)read this book. It's dark, hilarious, impactful, moving, urgent, inventive and more. Allow Kimberly to show you why the it's so important and so good.

There are SO MANY REASONS why so many people love this book. Allow Kimberly to help you see how Vonnegut's deceptively simple prose does so much heavy lifting. She dives deep into the book's structure, its sci-fi elements and its humor. She really wants to share her take on why this groundbreaking, post-modern classic is so much more than its postmodern peers. Listen in now for an immersion into one of Time's best 100 novels of the past 100 years.
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Jul 13, 2025 • 1h 12min

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS by Shirley Hazzard >> People. This is one of Kimberly's very most favorite books. Her most recent trip through it felt like a GIFT. Indulge yourself now!

Hazzard's 1980 novel is one of the most gorgeous, most intricate, most rewarding, most RICH novels that Kimberly has ever read. Listen in to hear her explain how its nimble narrator, its figurative language and its singular, masterful structure--among many other elements--make it SO worth your while.
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Jul 11, 2025 • 40min

THE ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell >> Did this ambitious novel leave you with any questions? Allow Kimberly to maybe supply some answers! (Or—ha!—maybe more questions!)

Magic realism is an excellent way to articulate the inarticulable, to assert dissent, and to question order. Historical fiction is an amazing vehicle for examination of the past! Join Kimberly for a discussion of Russell’s novel in the context of Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and even Mary Karr. You’ll come away with a better understanding of The Antidote, while gaining a broader sense of how TRUTH sometimes functions well in fiction and sometimes falls short.
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Jun 30, 2025 • 35min

TEAR THIS HEART OUT (ARRANCAME LA VIDA) by Angeles Mastretta >> Looking for a summer read that doesn't feel like a trifle?? This dive into the history, glamour and drama of Mexico in the 1930s is your answer!

Mastretta's ultra-engaging, sex-forward, historical, feminist family romance from 1985 might be a touchstone of feminist literature, but it's also SO FUN TO READ. Kimberly dives in to the feminist underpinnings, the way our protagonist can rationalize living with a criminal (anyone interested in how Carmela Soprano did it, you should read this book!) and the literary merits of this engaging work. This is a summer read you'll remember forever!
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Jun 24, 2025 • 1h 2min

ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey >> For whatever reason, Kimberly was reluctant to pick up this book. She is SO glad she did.

Orbital is the kind of novel that could inspire hours and hours of conversation. Kimberly can't imagine a single person who feels like they apprehended the thing with just one read. If you're curious about how she pulled it off, how she uses language to describe the undescribable, or plenty of other aspects--indulge yourself in a more fulsome experience of this gorgeous Booker Prize winner now!

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