[.ca] Cold Snap (ISBN 0316472573)

From Amazon.com:
Thom Jones may be one of the few authors whose acknowledgments thank not only his dog, wife, and agent, but also Wyeth/Ayerst Laboratories and Stuart Pharmaceuticals, manufacturers of Effexor and Elavil--"drugs so good they feel illegal." Likewise, Cold Snap, Jones's second volume of short fiction, is so good these stories feel (but thankfully are not) illegal. In typically manic style they draw tragicomic portraits of boxers, Marines, and other assorted tough-guy types--even, in "Rocketfire Red," a part-Aborigine surfer girl turned drag racer and international model. Pitchman extraordinaire Ad Magic from The Pugilist at Rest returns, writing fraudulent but devastatingly effective direct-mail appeals for Global Aid even as he loses his mind on the combined effects of Dexedrine, paregoric, malaria, and a thumb smashed by Rwandan soldiers. In "Way Down Deep in the Jungle," another Africa story, cynical Dr. Koestler's baboon absconds with an entire bottle of whiskey, then entertains the natives with shockingly accurate imitations of the American smoking, masturbating, and moving his bowels. A plastic surgeon boxes his way through a fatal heart attack in "Ooh Baby Baby"; a diabetic with an amputated foot feeds a black widow spider in "Pickpocket"; the young Marine of "Pot Shack" compounds his foolishness in joining up ("Why did you join? Why did you join? Etc. Why did you fucking join?") by volunteering for recon, "where they take awful to a new level." It's the kind of fictional universe in which a manic doctor plays Russian roulette to cheer himself up, and the result is somehow, improbably, funny. But these stories go well beyond whistling in the dark. They are in fact a way to hold our 20th-century demons at bay, as the epigraph from 1 Samuel suggests: "Seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre: and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well." May we all be well, and may Thom Jones play on. --Mary Park

Unbalanced Collection of Stories:
This collection of stories offers nothing new in the landscape of contemporary fiction. There is nothing unique in the prose, just the raw stuff you'd find in Tim O'Brien or Ellen Gilchrist. The title story is the only one I liked. I especially hated the one told from the perspective of an Australian, it detracts from the main themes too much. There are better choices, like Rick Moody or Annie Proulx.

Probably the best short story writer out there today:
I came across this book first and then moved back to 'Pugilist at Rest,' which many people cite as the better book. This one is at least as good, and may be slightly better. Great short stories are harder to write than novels, and that is why there are so few noteworthy books out there today. But Jones is fantastic and in complete control of his work. If there were more writers like this, I would probably stop reading overdrawn novels completely and only read short stories. I once loaned this book to a friend who needed to find some short stories to use as models for form, etc. for school, and crossed out 3 of the 10 titles in the table of contents as probably suitable for skipping. While every collection like this will have its high points, 7 out of 10 seem to be must-read hits to me, and you are looking for too much in a short story collection if you expect more than that - even Hemingway's collections have their duds thrown in.

Outstanding:
Like _Pugilist At Rest_ which preceded it, _Cold Snap_ is an excellent work and should be considered and one of the most consistently outstanding collection of stories in contemporary American fiction. Jones is an author who writes about what he knows. He is a former marine and an ex-boxer, and therefore marines and boxers feature largely in his stories. Jones' disappointing follow-up, _Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine_, unfortunately shows that this is not a formula with unlimited longevity. This collection, however, works splendidly. I have a great appreciation for Jones' authenticity. He gets it right. The closing story "Dynamite Hands" is a masterpiece. Not a word out of place, a perfectly crafted gem. Jones depicts perfectly the complexity of boxing, and manages to successfully capture an amazing range of emotions in and out of the ring. Another notable standout is "Way Down Deep in the Jungle" about a New Zealand doctor on an aid mission in Africa, and his unlikely companion: a pet baboon. Surrounded by death, AIDS, corruption, and despair, the baboon (vilified by the native staff) is his sole distraction. Not pretty stuff, much of what you will find here; _Cold Snap_ is a blend of death, drug abuse, suicide, and various other dark elements of the human condition. But somehow Jones manages to craft some likeable characters and put them into situations which shed some light on our humanity. An excellent book.

One of the best fiction writers in America:
Thom Jones is one of the best fiction writers in America. Joyce Carol Oates once said that reading Jones is like speeding down the highway in a car with the windows rolled down. It's better than that! People who come from the walks of life that Jones has come from are not supposed to be verbal, much less have the ability to write. Jones can not only write, he can create alternate worlds in the space of 2,000-to-5,000 words. In every one of the stories in "Cold Snap," he does just that. You'll come away wiser, changed. Only the best fiction can do that.

Not As Good as 'Pugilist':
After reading 'Pugilist At Rest', I euphorically and unhesitatingly bought the other two Jones books. Having just finished 'Cold Snap', I find to my dismay I'm suffering an ebb of endorphins. Jones doesn't seem to be able to master the concept that women of a certain generation, regardless of caste, do not think in terms consistent with each fifteenth word being some permutation of "shit". Particularly, I would contend, older, crippled women and grandmothers. Further, I am dissappointed at what appears to be a creeping political correctness. Jones's wild appeal is his honesty. Political correctness is emphatically at odds with this. Jones was the first writer in probably a generation with the courage to take the gloves off with truth about our inner lives ("If she were my wife, she would have been a splat on the wall. . ."). This courage and veracity is highly, highly refreshing -- almost like being let out of a cell, cerebrally -- and people respond to it even as they are stunned by it. 'Cold Snap' shows signs of a creeping preocupation with critical favour. Want to make sure the feminist critics are for you, Thom? Keep writing truth, and showing the raw courage you showed in 'Pugilist'. At the end of the day, athiests, agnostics, feminists, radicals, Everyman responds to a show of courage. And to fresh air.