by Thom Jones
First published 1993
A former boxer sits in a bar, his hands shaking as he reaches for another drink. The same hands that once pounded opponents now tremble from years of alcohol and the weight of memories he cannot escape. Around him swirl the voices and faces of other damaged men. Some carry scars from the jungles of Vietnam, where bullets whistled through humid air and friends died in mud. Others bear wounds from different kinds of combat zones, where marriages crumble and bodies betray their owners. Jones moves between these fractured lives, showing how violence leaves its mark whether it comes from war, the boxing ring, or the quiet brutalities of everyday existence. Each man struggles with his own version of survival, searching for meaning in a world that seems determined to break him down. These are stories about what happens after the fighting stops, when the real battle begins.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: damaged-characters, found-family
Setting: Vietnam
Period: 20th-century
230 pages · Hardcover · Little Brown
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, violence