Thom Jones (1945–2016)

Amazing, every single story. About people who are looking for existential solitude, clinging to their lifes and loved ones for an answer. It's pretty brutal. Divided in four parts, the first is more of a roman a clef about Jones time in the army and imagining what would have been like. The second and third seem more personal, stuff that happened to him and people close to him, and the fourth part is freer, but still connected with his life. But all of them are tied with the thread of holding show more for dear life and not giving up, even in death, with analogies of boxing and some philosopher's quotes and ideas. The prose has insane potency and energy. Jones is one of those weird talented writers who get destroyed by addiction and dissapear after doing amazing work. show less

Reading Thom Jones is like watching magnesium foil burn. It's just spectacular. His street wise prose are a delight, smart and erudite. It's the 4th time I've read this and it gets better every time. The Black Lights is one of my favourite short stories ever and it's not necessarily the best story in The Pugilist at Rest . Thom Jones only wrote 3 books, all short stories and his brilliance continues to burn brightly . I'd give it 7 stars if I could.
Is Thom Jones my favourite author? He's show more definitely in the mix. show less

I don't get it. Either I don't get the final story in this collection or I don't get why Thom Jones or his editor would place this as the final piece. To me, it was the weakest story by far. Enough so that it made a book I overall enjoyed a little less of a good experience. The first few stories were reminiscent of Tim O'Brien, but O'Brien seemed a bit closer to reality. Maybe because O'Brien's was actually in combat. But the stories that stuck closer to Jones' real-life experiences, such as show more his training in the marines, his father's history as a boxer (not sure if Jones was a boxer as well?) were vividly told and captivating and worth the read. show less

Thom Jones writes about war and boxing very well but he stumbles when the subject matter shifts. "The Pugilist at Rest" is an incredible story and the whole of Part I in this collection blew me away with its deft incorporation of philosophy which totally subverts the expectations of the reader that it will be a straightforward war narrative. The rest of the collection, especially Part II, really took a dive when trying to write about American culture, the character's felt flat and a lot of show more the motivations were so routinely explicated it got wearisome. I found few other stories that I really resonated in the same way as TPAR, the one exception being the final story "Rocket Man," with some moving monologues between a former lightweight champion and his boxing protege. show less