JAMES JONES:A FRIENDSHIP [Paperback]

Willie Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1999

"Willie Morris gives us a finely tuned, funny, and heartrending elegy to his friend, James Jones, whose novels "From Here to Eternity" and "The Thin Red Line" immortalized the experiences of a whole generation of World War II victims and survivors. Morris, a former editor of Harper's and a prolific author in his own right, crafts a moving portrait that captures Jones's integrity, strength, and lust for life. Interwoven with recollections by Jones's colleagues, such as Irwin Shaw and William Styron, and his editors, Maxwell Perkins and Burroughs Mitchell, Morris sketches the pivotal events of Jones's life as well as small but defining moments of intimacy and compassion. Morris spins out Jones's experiences in the wartime Pacific, his storybook marriage, his self-imposed exile in Paris, and his return to East Hampton, Long Island. He also recounts Jones's race against the clock to finish Whistle, the culmination of his World War II trilogy, which Morris himself completed after his friend's death in 1977. An exquisite and lyrical rendering of an artist and his work, "James Jones: A Friendship" celebrates a rare bond that transcends both the vicissitudes of life and the finality of death."

Editorial Reviews

Review

REVIEWS FROM PREVIOUS PUBLICATION BY DOUBLEDAY "Inspired a kind of nostalgia by proxy for the good times in Paris from 1968 until 1973, when so many Americans passing through would drop in at the Joneses' house on the Ils St. Louis to play poker or argue politics or dance to the music of the 1940s or watch a tipsy James Baldwin mount the pulpit that Jones kept in their living room and heap fire and brimstone on the evils of drinking... As much autobiography as it is a portrait of another." - New York Times "The story of Jones as written by another writer, Willie Morris, but it is more, much more... Morris explores Jones' early life, his exile, his peacetime army stint and the attack on Pearl Harbor. He covers the war in the Pacific, the time spent in the military hospital and his first successes. Comments from peers add to the picture of fond remembrance of America's favorite writers." - The State- Journal Register, Springfield, IL "Morris' loosely biographical book is at its best when it describes these last years, when the two men became close friends. Particularly affecting is his description of a trip they took with their sons to visit the sites of Civil War battles, including Antietam, where 23,000 men died in one day. 'The way men go to die,' Jim said, looking down at the ridge before us. 'It's incredibly sad. It breaks my heart. You wonder why it was necessary, why human beings have to do that to each other.' Perhaps these words would seem banal in most mouths. But coming from James Jones, who spent a lifetime writing about soldiers, they resonate." - Washington Post Book World "A memoir that is valuable not only for its illumination of a distinguished and deadly earnest novelist, but as a record of the international community of writing during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s." - Booklist "An eloquent, intensely moving and perfectly painted portrait of a rare and precious friend... A book both devoted to and revealing of its subject... Incredibly rich, warm and honest, this account could only come from a writer's deepest thoughts, feelings and affections." - The Christian Science Monitor "A refreshing tribute to a man who, it appears, was as impressive a human being as he was a writer. Novelist Morris movingly and evocatively describes his ten-year friendship with Jones... An engaging portrait: anecdotal and affectionate, witty and wise." - Library Journal

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (October 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252068378
• ISBN-13: 978-0252068379
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,388,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, November 4, 2011

By 

MakeAWishKid - See all my reviews

This review is from: JAMES JONES, A FRIENDSHIP

Willie Morris (November 29, 1934-August 2, 1999), was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' trademark was his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly the Mississippi Delta. In 1967 he became the youngest editor of Harper's Magazine. He wrote several works of fiction and non-fiction, including his seminal book 'North Toward Home' and 'My Dog Spot'." - wikipedia. "James Jones (1921-1977), one of the major novelists of his generation, is known primarily as the author of fiction that probes the effects of World War II on the individual soldier. Born in Robinson, Illinois, Jones entered the U.S. Army and had the distinction of being the only individual who would become a major writer to witness the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. A member of the 27th U.S. Infantry Regiment (25th Division), Jones was wounded at Guadalcanal and returned to Robinson, where he started to write about his experiences eventually producing the critically acclaimed international bestseller 'From Here to Eternity' (1951). He assisted in the creation of the Handy Writers' Colony in Marshall, Illinois (which lasted from 1949 to 1964) before taking up residence in Paris as part of the Second Generation of American Expatriate writers and artists. Jones's other novels are 'Some Came Running' (1957), 'The Pistol' (1959), 'The Thin Red Line' (1962), 'Go to the Widow-Maker' (1967), 'The Merry Month of May' (1971), 'A Touch of Danger '(1973), and 'Whistle' (1978). Jones published an acclaimed short-story collection, 'The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories' (1968), a nonfictional history of World War II from the viewpoint of the soldier, 'WWII' (1975), and a book of essays, 'Viet Journal' (1975). Jones's selected letters [mainly concerned with the craft of writing] were published in 1989. Of the trio of American writers on the big scale who emerged in the '50s--Mailer, Styron and Jones--the last has the most problematic reputation. This is partly because he was the least educated of them and his writing was, to put it kindly, less eloquently shaped [Drieser comes to mind]; but also in part because he seemed insufficiently self-critical and sometimes wrote large chunks of what seemed like barely digested naturalism [e.g. 'Some Came Running']. His raw emotional, but nonetheless considerable, talents as a writer seemed best-suited to describe the military world, in and out of combat, and less so the post-war world of America and Europe. His critical standing has only increased since his death." - James Jones Literary Society. " This is a highly unusual memoir - elegiac, funny, and heart-rending - written by one American writer about another. The subject is James Jones, celebrated author of 'From Here to Eternity', 'The Thin Red Line', and most recently, 'Whistle'. The author is Willie Morris, former editor of Harper's and author of 'North Toward Home', 'Yazoo', and 'The Last of the Southern Girls'. He is also the man who completed 'Whistle' after his friend's death in 1977. 'James Jones; A Friendship' is not only a moving tribute to the artist, it is a complex portrait of the living man - a man who cut a tough, luminous figure among a whole generation of writers, a man of integrity, strength, and a zest for life, a man whose experiences and insights into World War II made him the spokesman for its victims and its survivors. Willie Morris explores Jones's early years in the Midwest and in the peacetime Army, the Pearl Harbor attack and combat in the Pacific, the military hospital in Memphis, the first successes; he takes us through Jones's time in Paris, his final return to the United States, and his struggle against death

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real mans friendship., January 22, 2003

By 

Stuart Blades (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JAMES JONES:A FRIENDSHIP (Paperback)

This book was the basis for the excellent film "A soldiers daughter never cries". The writing is fine and gentle, Morris is a scholarly man with a deft comic touch. The author and his friend James Jones belong square in the American "geography of masculinity" literary genre, peopled by the likes of Jim Harrison. If you enjoyed "Legends of the Fall" you will enjoy this for different but similar reasons. It would have been great fun to go drinking with these guys! Highly recommended.