The Foxed Page

If you love to read, The Foxed Page is for you. With these deep dives into the best books, you’ll gain a richer understanding of the title at hand, all while learning to read everything better. Choose from long-form lectures, quick recommendations, talks on old favorites and plenty of episodes from the archives. Listen to The Foxed Page--with Kimberly Ford, best-selling author, former adjunct professor and Ph.D.

Episodes

Lecture 98: 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!

July 13, 2025 • 72 mins

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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Lecture 96: THE ANTIDOTE (by Karen Russell) in the context of Magic Realism, Historical Fiction and Truth! >> Did this ambitious novel leave you with any questions? Allow Kimberly to maybe supply some answers! (Or—ha!—maybe more questions!)

July 11, 2025 • 40 mins

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 we...

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Lecture 95: Tear This Heart Out (Arráncame 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!

June 30, 2025 • 34 mins

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 remem...

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Lecture 94: ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey >> For whatever reason, Kimberly was reluctant to pick up this book. She is SO glad she did.

June 24, 2025 • 62 mins

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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LECTURE 93: I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith >> Want to know why The Atlantic put this at the top of their summer reading list? Listen in!

June 20, 2025 • 67 mins

NO SPOILERS! Kimberly could not agree more with The Atlantic. This novel is the most crowd-pleasery of any book she ever recommends. It is SO GOOD. Rich and complex, but also light, it's gorgeous and transporting--everything you want in a summer read! Listen in now to be sure you fully appreciate all that makes it so appealing.

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READING CHALLENGE 1b: PART TWO of To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf >> No novel keeps giving like this novel. Kimberly spends a delicious hour digging in to this complex literature-changing masterpiece.

June 4, 2025 • 62 mins

People. This is when things get fun. Kimberly breaks down a bunch of aspects of the work: figurative language, the unique structure, patriarchy v. matriarchy, the very nature of creativity and the essence of what it is to be human (!!). Want to get more out of this insanely great book? Treat yourself now.

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The very first foxed page READING CHALLENGE: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf >> Kimberly would argue that there’s no better way to usher in summer than reading this book.

May 27, 2025 • 54 mins

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Lecture 92: THE SCARLET LETTER >> Honestly, did your fifteen-year-old self really appreciate this insanely great classic? Listen in--NO READING REQUIRED--to why this book is SO GOOD.

May 20, 2025 • 74 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! Hawthorne's 1850 classic is the epitome of high school books that are wasted on high school students. This thing is a MASTERPIECE. Listen in as Kimberly situates it historically, talks about the framing device, digs deep into the radical FEMINISM and of course covers symbolism (did you also write your term paper on symbolism??). She wraps up the lecture by leaning into her ongoing rant about how PURITANISM ...

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Lecture 91: THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio >> You've heard Kimberly talk about how hard it is to write humor. Gramazio shows us how it's done!

May 16, 2025 • 54 mins

NO SPOILERS! With humor as a lens, Kimberly dives in to all the ways this bestseller functions so well. You'll learn how to think about humor more generally, while seeing all the ways that the best humor can really shape a novel. Join Kimberly for an exploration of one of the strongest elements of this smart, engaging surprisingly philosophical book!

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Lecture 90: THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin >> Remember this absolute CORNERSTONE of feminist literature?? Turns out this classic is just as important and juicy as when it was published IN 1899!

May 1, 2025 • 53 mins

Kimberly was honestly kind of shocked by how iconoclastic, gorgeous and important this novel feels. Whether it's a women's-studies-seminar favorite or new to you, indulge in this exploration of one woman's fascinating experience of society, domesticity, maternity and PASSION in late-1800s New Orleans.

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Enriched read 9: the GENIUS of CORMAC McCARTHY (specifically: No Country for Old Men) >> Love McCarthy? Never read him? Tune in to see why he's just so incredibly good.

April 23, 2025 • 81 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! As soon as Kimberly dove back in to No Country for Old Men, she knew she needed to parse what makes McCarthy SO GOOD. This exploration hits on all the ways that reading McCarthy is a master class in all elements of fiction: textured narrative voices, description of violence, sympathy for complex characters, dark humor, and others--not to mention gorgeous prose.

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Episode 89: ANNA KARENINA >> Intimidated??? DON'T be! Just let Kimberly tell you all the reasons these 1,000 pages are great.

April 10, 2025 • 39 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! Whether this doorstop is an old favorite--or something you NEVER plan to read--treat yourself to Kimberly's take on why this classic of all classics is worth your next 40 minutes!

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100th Anniversary REPOST: THE GREAT GATSBY >> We all need to get back to the GENIUS novel that was wasted on us in high school? No rereading! Let Kimberly remind you of the greatness of this meditation on the (sometimes complex) AMERICAN DREAM.

April 7, 2025 • 70 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! Fitzgerald's genius might very well be wasted on the youth. Even if you haven't re-read this classic since you were 16, delving into for an hour is a revelation. Kimberly breaks down the innovative narrative stance, the plot-heavy structure and some master-class motif building--all while reveling in (and also subtly criticizing) this modernist MASTERPIECE.

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Episode 88: Sex Writing, Age-Gap Relationships and Annie Ernaux's THE YOUNG MAN >> Leave it to a NOBEL PRIZE WINNER to dish up some seriously inspiring prose!

April 4, 2025 • 29 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! Tune in to hear Kimberly unpack the many ways that Ernaux celebrates the age gap relationship. The French master offers up philosophical explanations for why older people get with younger ones, incisive analysis of social norms and all the ways in which these liaisons can be empowering--all, of course, while treating us to her stark, arresting, unique prose. Treat yourself to this dip into one woman's world and...

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Episode 87: SEX WRITING, AGE-GAP RELATIONSHIPS and PLAYWORLD by Adam Ross

March 26, 2025 • 45 mins

Tune in for Kimberly's breakdown of how PLAYWORLD really succeeds--and the ways she sees it falling short. With its marketing materials really pushing its 36-year-old-woman/14-year-old-boy sexualized relationship, the novel provides a fascinating look at sex writing and how the Mrs.-Robinson trope manifests itself in 2025. Join Kimberly for this second of four lectures--the only novel of the four written by a man--which maybe shoul...

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Episode 86: SEX WRITING, AGE-GAP RELATIONSHIPS and INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney (1 of 4 upcoming lectures!)

March 20, 2025 • 69 mins

With good sex writing, and TWO age-gap relationships, INTERMEZZO offers Kimberly all sorts of ways to think about female sexual desire. Listen in to hear what Kimberly LOVES about this latest Rooney, and where she thinks the novel fell SHORT. The first of a series of four lectures that will explore Adam Ross's PLAYWORLD, Annie Ernaux's THE YOUNG MAN and Kate Chopin's THE AWAKENING, Kimberly's deep dives will elucidate not only the...

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Lecture 85: THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING by T. H. White >> NO READING REQUIRED! Lose yourself as Kimberly walks you through the genius of this CAMELOT CLASSIC. Need an escape? One that's smart, inventive and funny? Listen in!

March 12, 2025 • 76 mins

White published the four-part volume in 1938 and 1958--all in the shadow of WWII. If he only knew how well the chaos of that historical moment would mirror 2025! This 700-page novel is haunting, intelligent, absorbing and charming. NO NEED TO READ the book. Just treat yourself to Kimberly's wander through it now!

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Lecture 84: Lucia Berlin's "Carpe Diem" from A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN >> Join Kimberly for a SPECIAL look at one story by the master of the form!

March 4, 2025 • 54 mins

In this special lecture honoring a story from one of the BEST BOOKS OF THE CENTURY (according to the New York Times), Kimberly proves that it's FASCINATING to parse a five-and-a-half page story for almost an hour. In fact, there was a lot MORE she wanted to discuss. This deep dive, though, will give you an even better sense of just WHY Berlin's work is so so good.

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Lecture 83: Jodi Picoult's BY ANY OTHER NAME >> Missed a few of Picoult's Shakespeare references? Want to be sure you appreciated all the reasons why this novel is so effective?? Listen in now!

February 24, 2025 • 75 mins

Join Kimberly as she discusses historical fiction as a genre--before digging in to how the structure, the pacing, the figurative language and the prose make this novel work so well. (Plus, as usual, a few quibbles.)

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Lecture 82: I COULD READ THE SKY by Timothy O'Grady and Steve Pike >> Do you STILL need a literary escape?? This gorgeous, elegiac novel-with-photos will transport you to Ireland and the experience of emigration. Listen in now!

February 13, 2025 • 65 mins

NO READING REQUIRED! Kimberly's deep dive works well before or after reading this gem. The novel's unique reading experience derives in part from the incredible photographs throughout--combined, of course, with insanely great prose. Make sure you're getting as much as possible out of this unusual, beautiful, haunting novel. Listen in now!

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