Thom Jones' world encompasses dilapidated fight arenas, state mental hospitals, and chaotic emergency rooms. The inhabitants are his brilliantly etched characters, who battle desperately against fate in a game of life they cannot win but dare not lose. Now, with Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine, Jo[...]

A collection of taut and violent stories. Whether set in the combat zones of Vietnam or the intellectual milieu of an elite New England college, they reflect an almost brutal vision of the human condition in a world without mercy or redemption.[...]