Books: Beyond the Fringe

THE SICK Fox (305 pp.)—Paul Brodeur—Atlantic Monthly Press ($4.75).

The story seems strange but simple. Harry Brace, a U.S. intelligence officer, is in charge of guarding a hidden U.S. nuclear warhead depot in a remote section of West Germany. Patrolling the dark forest around the depot, cutting his own orders, wearing civvies, chasing trout and women at his pleasure, he comes to feel like a feudal baron. Then he sees a sick fox and realizes that it may be rabid. But he does not kill it. Why? Unconsciously, he sees it as a companion in his own growing urge toward anarchy.

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