Fox, Andrew Jay 1964-

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FOX, Andrew Jay 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born November 4, 1964, in Miami Beach, FL; married Dara Levinson (a grant writer); children: Natalie, stepdaughter. Education: Loyola University, B.A., 1986; graduate study at Syracuse University; attended New Orleans Metropolitan College, 1995.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New Orleans, LA. Office—Louisiana Department of Public Health, P.O. Box 606030, Room 407, New Orleans, LA 70160. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, administrator. Sagamore Children's Center, Long Island, NY, administrative intern, 1988-90; Hillel Jewish Students Center, New Orleans, LA, 1990-91; Louisiana Office of Public Health, New Orleans, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, manager, 1991—. Cofounder, New Year Coalition, New Orleans, to stop celebratory gunfire.

WRITINGS:

Fat White Vampire Blues, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Bride of the Fat White Vampire, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2004.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Fire on the Iron, an alternate universe fantasy; a science fiction novel in homage to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

SIDELIGHTS:

Andrew Jay Fox, a Louisiana civil servant and administrator by day, and a writer by night, has furthered the New Orleans tradition of the vampire novel, adding his title Fat White Vampire Blues to the long list of other vampire novels from local writers such as Anne Rice, Barbara Hambly, Nancy Collins, and Poppy Z. Brite. For Fantasy and Science Fiction contributor James Sallis, however, Fox is not just another scribbler of fang literature; rather, he "bears the standard high" with his debut 2003 novel. And Meredith Griffin, writing for Maroon, noted that Fox's Fat White Vampire Blues "is another interesting and lively piece added to the vampire puzzle New Orleans has made for itself."

Fox's novel shows, as a Publishers Weekly critic noted, that "vampires have problems, too." The main character, Jules Duchon, weighs in at around four hundred pounds, drives a taxi, and feeds off the overweight denizens of New Orleans, whose diets tend toward the fatty. When a new vampire in town, Malice X, encroaches on his turf, Jules turns to his creator, Maureen, a triple-X-sized stripper. Maureen, in turn, enlists the aid of Jules's one-time friend, D.B., for more help in eliminating this threat. The Publishers Weekly reviewer further commented that Fox created a "clever, wisecracking debut," but that in the end there is "little of real substance to sink your teeth into." For a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, the novel is "exuberantly tasteless, and—here and there—almost as much fun to read as it probably was to write." Both critics also noted the debt Fox owed not only to Anne Rice, but also, more importantly, to John Kennedy Toole and his novel A Confederacy of Dunces.

More enthusiastic was the review from Library Journal's Patricia Altner, who called Fox's book "wry, witty, and often hilarious" and one that "lovingly evokes the charm of the Big Easy." Similarly, in a starred Booklist review, Kristine Huntley concluded that "Jules is an often hapless hero, but a sympathetic one, and readers of vampire fiction will delight in this droll parody of the genre." June Pulliam echoed this praise in a Baton Rouge Advocate review, dubbing Fox's first novel a "witty and well-written romp," while Sallis in Fantasy and Science Fiction concluded that Fox brings New Orleans "darkly to life" in this novel that is "sharply plotted, witty in language and invention."

Fox continues in much the same vein in his 2004 sequel, Bride of the Fat White Vampire. A transplanted Floridian in Louisiana, Fox, who graduated from Loyola University, cut his teeth on science fiction, comic books, and monster movies, and has been writing since his grade school years.