The Pugilist at Rest: Stories [Paperback]

Thom Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 1994

Thom Jones made his literary debut in The New Yorker in 1991. Within six months his stories appeared in Harper's, Esquire, Mirabella, Story, Buzz, and in The New Yorker twice more. "The Pugilist at Rest" - the title story from this stunning collection - took first place in Prize Stories 1993: The O. Henry Awards and was selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 1992. He is a writer of astonishing talent. Jones's stories - whether set in the combat zones of Vietnam or the brittle social and intellectual milieu of an elite New England college, whether recounting the poignant last battles of an alcoholic ex-fighter or the hallucinatory visions of an American wandering lost in Bombay in the aftermath of an epileptic fugue - are fueled by an almost brutal vision of the human condition, in a world without mercy or redemption. Physically battered, soul-sick, and morally exhausted, Jones's characters are yet unable to concede defeat: his stories are infused with the improbable grace of the spirit that ought to collapse, but cannot. For in these extraordinary pieces of fiction, it is not goodness that finally redeems us, but the heart's illogical resilience, and the ennobling tenacity with which we cling to each other and to our lives. The publication of The Pugilist at Rest is a major literary event, heralding the arrival of an electrifying new voice in American fiction, and a writer of magnificent depth and range. With these eleven stories, Thom Jones takes his place among the ranks of this country's most important authors.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Thom Jones's first collection of stories is a revelation. In prose that sounds like nobody else, Jones channels a variety of distinctively different voices, from the lustful book editor of "Unchain My Heart" to the epileptic, amnesiac adman of the Dostoevskian fable "A White Horse." There's not a miss among these tales, but two in particular stand out: the title story, about a boxer and Vietnam vet who has plumbed the vicious depths of his own soul, and the almost unbearably intense chronicle of a woman fighting a losing battle with cancer, "I Want to Live!" "The world is replete with badness," says the aging fighter of "A Pugilist at Rest"; yet, as the narrator of "I Want to Live!" discovers, there is nothing stronger than the human will to go on, to persist--even in the face of the hell that exists right here on earth. It's not all gloom, doom, and napalm, however. There's also the surreal, Gogol-esque humor of "The Black Lights," in which the pysch-ward protagonist insists his only problem is epilepsy, yet hallucinates a giant, shuddering rabbit caught under his bed at night ("It's that rabbit on the Br'er Rabbit molasses jar. That rabbit with buckles on his shoes! Bow tie. Yaller teeth! Yaller! Yaller!") Then, too, Jones creates images of startling, surreal clarity amid the horror, like the dying lieutenant who remains on one knee even after being shot, "his remaining arm extended out to the enemy, palm upward in the soulful, heartrending gesture of Al Jolson doing a rendition of 'Mammy.'" Take a decidedly grim world-view, add a dose of existential slapstick, some Schopenhauer, an encyclopedic knowledge of pharmaceuticals, and a soundtrack by the Doors, and you have what may be the darkest, funniest, most urgent fictional debut in years. --Mary Park

From Publishers Weekly

Jones's gritty and poetic debut short-story collection was selected by PW as one of the best books of 1993.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (May 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316473049
• ISBN-13: 978-0316473040
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHORT STORIES YOU REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME, March 11, 2004

By 

Andrew Fookes (JILLIBY, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pugilist at Rest: Stories (Hardcover)

I last read this book 11 years ago when it came out in its first edition, and I still remember each story with such clarity it's like I just finished reading it this morning. That's nothing to do with my (atrocious) memory, but with the power and clarity of Jones' writing.
I liken Thom Jones to a literary Tom Waits.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw Rage, January 28, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pugilist at Rest: Stories (Paperback)

These are not stories to lull you to sleep at night. Reading Thom Jones is like running the marathon, or going several rounds in the ring or, for us desk jockeys, completing that hotly contested deal. You know you've been in a fight even if it is only a verbal one. Thom Jones' prose is raw and disturbing. Whether telling stories of Vietnam or boxing or struggles with serious illness, this collection bluntly but articulately tells of a dark and hostile world and the rage to live that constantly challenges it. Jones reexamines traditional machismo (even as demonstrated by female characters) and shows both the will to live and the naivete demonstrated therein. While these stories have a dark and cynical tone, they scream so loudly about the need to live that they are the perfect antidote to that feeling of cultural suffocation. Read them. They will leave their mark.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant., November 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pugilist at Rest: Stories (Paperback)

I generally don't post reviews on here, but seeing Thom Jones called 'tacky' is just too much for my sensitive mind to bear. There is nothing 'tacky' about this guy, and there's certainly nothing tacky about his stories. They're remarkable -- plot, prose, philosophy, sentiment... all are beyond reproach. He's simply the best living short story writer, period. Probably one of the best ever (it's all subjective, ain't it?). 'I want to live,' already discussed by several people, is unusually moving and manages to convey in a few short pages an overwhelming sense of what one not-too-old dying woman goes through. So what if Jones digs schopenhauer and is not afraid to tell us about him? Anything that can be done by fiction writers to make people consider philosophy -- especially long-underappreciated Schopenhauer -- is, to me, welcome. And the Ad Magic stories which appear in 'Cold Snap' and 'The Pugilist at Rest' are just incredible. As for the critique of Jones on the grounds that his medical knowledge is insufficient -- please. That's not any kind of literary criticism, even if Jones had gotten the drug stuff completely wrong. It's just irrelevant nit-picking.

If you have not read anything by Thom Jones, do it. Buy something on here. Go to the store. Check one of his books out from the library.