William Price Fox
Encyclopedia
William Price Fox is an American
novel
ist, who wrote Southern Fried and Doctor Golf. Fox has contributed to publications such as Sports Illustrated
, L.A. Times, USA Today
and Atlantic Monthly. Musician Bruce Springsteen
wrote the song "Darlington County" based on Fox's book Dixiana Moon.
, and has lived in South Carolina
most of his life. In 2008, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he now resides.
and studied writing under Caroline Gordon
.
Fox taught writing at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop
and was the Writer-In-Residence at the University of South Carolina
until 2007.
Bruce Springsteen
"The picaresque slapstick of Pitching Tents reminds me of early William Price Fox, where the novelist doesn't seem to be so much writing and plotting as mixing up his own special brew." James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
"If stores had the good taste and decency to separate books by sensibility, [Brett] Butler would fit right next to writers like Lee Smith and William Price Fox, Southerners whose emotions go a mile deep and who remain tough and funny in very dark circumstances." Charles Taylor, Salon
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (--on Fox's Southern Fried ):"Thank God-- at last, a humorist who can make us laugh! What an idea! Bill Fox stands a good chance of capturing the laugh Americans used to give to Mark Twain in simpler times. He's brilliant."
P.G. Wodehouse (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): "It's just the golf book that was needed... very funny!"
John Updike (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): "Golf in the Kingdom
" put me in mind of another curious devotional work, William Price Fox's "Doctor Golf."Doctor Golf, a fanatic even quainter and keener than Shivas Irons, runs a thirty-nine-member golf sanctuary in Arkansas called Eagle-Ho, refers to "young Hagen," advocates caddy flogging, sells by mail order a clanking, cumbersome line of golf paraphernalia, and conducts a large correspondence. When one correspondent writes,"I am in my 65th year and I have been seized by golflike a mouse in the claws of a golden eagle,"Doctor Golf congratulates him:
Walt Kelly (creator of Pogo-- on Fox's Moonshine Light/Moonshine Bright): "He has put down a modern generation of gasoline crazy kids in its true, bittersweet, hilarious best and, thank God, worst... As we understand the 1850's... because of a couple of histories of boys written by a fellow named Twain, so here can we get a slippery eyeball on the speed boys of today... these boys are universal... these are southerners who are very boy."
Richard Yates (on Fox's Ruby Red): "William Price Fox is a natural-- and better still, he's an original...the story is wholly alive and couldn't have been brought to life by anyone else. I think it's a beautiful piece of work."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, who wrote Southern Fried and Doctor Golf. Fox has contributed to publications such as Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, L.A. Times, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and Atlantic Monthly. Musician Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
wrote the song "Darlington County" based on Fox's book Dixiana Moon.
Early life
William Price Fox was born in Waukegan, IllinoisWaukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
, and has lived in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
most of his life. In 2008, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he now resides.
Education
He graduated from the University of South CarolinaUniversity of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
and studied writing under Caroline Gordon
Caroline Gordon
Caroline Ferguson Gordon was a notable American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, was the recipient of two prestigious literary awards, a 1932 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 1934 O...
.
Fox taught writing at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
and was the Writer-In-Residence at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
until 2007.
Journalism
William Price Fox has written for U.S.A. Today, Atlantic Monthly, Golf Digest, Golf Illustrated, Golf, Sports Illustrated, Saturday Evening Post, Millionaire Magazine, American Heritage, L.A. Times, Village Voice, as well as countless other publications.Critical reception
"And then I got into this writer, William Price Fox, who wrote Dixiana Moon and a lot of short stories. He's just great with detail."Bruce Springsteen
"The picaresque slapstick of Pitching Tents reminds me of early William Price Fox, where the novelist doesn't seem to be so much writing and plotting as mixing up his own special brew." James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
"If stores had the good taste and decency to separate books by sensibility, [Brett] Butler would fit right next to writers like Lee Smith and William Price Fox, Southerners whose emotions go a mile deep and who remain tough and funny in very dark circumstances." Charles Taylor, Salon
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (--on Fox's Southern Fried ):"Thank God-- at last, a humorist who can make us laugh! What an idea! Bill Fox stands a good chance of capturing the laugh Americans used to give to Mark Twain in simpler times. He's brilliant."
P.G. Wodehouse (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): "It's just the golf book that was needed... very funny!"
John Updike (--on Fox's Doctor Golf): "Golf in the Kingdom
Golf in the Kingdom
Golf in the Kingdom is a 1971 novel by Michael Murphy. It has sold over a million copies and been translated into 19 languages. Golf in the Kingdom tells the story of Michael Murphy, a young traveler who accidentally stumbles on a mystical golfing expert while in Scotland.Murphy was inspired to...
" put me in mind of another curious devotional work, William Price Fox's "Doctor Golf."Doctor Golf, a fanatic even quainter and keener than Shivas Irons, runs a thirty-nine-member golf sanctuary in Arkansas called Eagle-Ho, refers to "young Hagen," advocates caddy flogging, sells by mail order a clanking, cumbersome line of golf paraphernalia, and conducts a large correspondence. When one correspondent writes,"I am in my 65th year and I have been seized by golflike a mouse in the claws of a golden eagle,"Doctor Golf congratulates him:
Dear Sir, Only after the fetters of youth have been flung aside can golf enter. Only then can the man know the folly of his adolescent belief of the swing answering to the man and perceive the joy and the truth of the complete man answering to the swing. And, as the years and the eagles cascade by, the even greater joy is realized when he stands in the bright sunlight of complete fulfillment and comes to realize that the swing is the man.
The swing is the man. The Dance of Shiva, Michael Murphy ("Golf in the Kingdom") concludes, is at the heart of everything. Doctor Golf is more mystical still:
The swing by its very nature transcends the human form. The swing is there when you pass on... The swing, sir...is like the blue in the sky, immutable, eternal, indeed transcendental.
Walt Kelly (creator of Pogo-- on Fox's Moonshine Light/Moonshine Bright): "He has put down a modern generation of gasoline crazy kids in its true, bittersweet, hilarious best and, thank God, worst... As we understand the 1850's... because of a couple of histories of boys written by a fellow named Twain, so here can we get a slippery eyeball on the speed boys of today... these boys are universal... these are southerners who are very boy."
Richard Yates (on Fox's Ruby Red): "William Price Fox is a natural-- and better still, he's an original...the story is wholly alive and couldn't have been brought to life by anyone else. I think it's a beautiful piece of work."
Writer's Workshop Series for P.B.S.
Fox organized and hosted the Writer's Workshop series on P.B.S., featuring interviews and workshops with these famous writers:- James Dickey
- Nora Ephron
- William Price Fox
- John Gardner
- John Hawkes
- John Irving
- Pauline Kael
- James Allen McPherson
- George Plimpton
- Reynolds Price
- Susan Sontag
- Stephen Spender
- William Styron
- Kurt Vonnegut
- Tom Wolfe