The Pugilist at Rest: Stories
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Thom Jones Books
Thom Jones was an American author celebrated primarily for his short stories. His work frequently delves into themes of mortality, pain, and the search for solace within a pessimistic philosophy. Jones drew heavily on his personal experiences, including his time in the Marines and challenging family dynamics, to inform his fiction. His unflinching realism and raw portrayal of the human psyche established him as a distinctive voice in American literature.
A collection of short works brings readers to the disease-infested areas of Rwanda and follows the stories of hard-struggling victims, devoted doctors, and a strung-out advertising writer who does the work of God. Tour.
Twelve short stories by the National Book Award finalist of Pugilist at Rest follow the stories of mental hospital affiliates, including a Vietnam vet, a brilliant but burned out doctor, and a young amateur fighter. 25,000 first printing.
Night Train
- 419 pages
- 15 hours of reading
"A posthumous and definitive collection of new and selected stories by "virtuoso of the short story" (Esquire) and National Book Award finalist Thom Jones. This scorching collection from award-winning author Thom Jones features his best new short fiction alongside a selection of outstanding stories from three previous books. Jones's stories are full of high-octane, prose-drunk entertainment. His characters are grifters and drifters, rogues and ne'er-do-wells, would-be do-gooders whose human frailties usually get the better of them. Some are lovable, others are not, but each has an indelible and irresistible voice. They include Vietnam soldiers, amateur boxers, devoted doctors, strung-out advertising writers, pill poppers and veterans of the psych ward, and an unforgettable adolescent DJ radio host, among others. The stories here are excursions into a unique world that veers between abject desperation and fleeting transcendence. Perhaps no other writer in recent memory could encapsulate in such short spaces the profound and the devastating, the poignant and the hallucinatory, with such an exquisite balance of darkness and light. Jones's fiction reveals again and again the resilience and grace of characters who refuse to succumb. In stories that can at once delight us with their wicked humor and sting us with their affecting pathos, Night Train perfectly captures the essence of this iconic American master, showcasing in a single collection the breadth of power of his inimitable fiction."--Dust jacket front flap
Jones schildert in eindringlichen Geschichten das Leben von Verlierern, die mit Depression, Gewalt und Sucht kämpfen. Seine unverwechselbare Stimme beleuchtet die Kampfzonen des Lebens und die Herausforderungen, die Menschen überwinden müssen. Ein literarisches Ereignis von Rang, das andere Schriftsteller in den Schatten stellt.