Governing Through Turbulence: Leadership and Change in the Late Twentieth Century

This important study examines aspects of political leadership and governance in the last decades of the 20th century. Driven by innovations in science and technology, turbulent change has impacted nearly every political system and created a political environment of extreme complexity and fluidity. In this environment, previously dominant leaders, ideas, and institutions have been disempowered and new leaders and ideas empowered. This work examines seven world leaders, members of the first generation of political elites to assume power in the fluid political environment of the late 20th century. Two were heads of advanced industrial countries: Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom and Helmut Kohl of Germany. Three were leaders of states which underwent the transition from communist to postcommunist regimes: Lech Walesa of Poland, Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, and Boris Yeltsin of Russia. And two were leaders of important Third World states: Deng Xiaoping of China and Rajiv Gandhi of India. Each case study includes : (1) the political-economic context, (2) the operative elements of political turbulence in the domestic political environment, (3) a profile of the leader and his or her group, (4) the leader's political program, (5) strategies and means of achieving power, (6) the policy dimension, (7) the nature and scope of change, and (8) theories and interpretations of the leader and his or her political agenda. Through such analyses, the authors illustrate the scope, depth, and meaning of the most important recent political changes worldwide. The text will suit courses in international relations and comparative politics.

The Pugilist at Rest: Stories

History

Jones, Thom

Americas

Back Bay Books

A posthumous and definitive collection of new and selected stories by "virtuoso of the short story" (Esquire) and National Book Award finalist Thom Jones. This scorching collection from award-winning author Thom Jones features his best new short fiction alongside a selection of outstanding stories from three previous books. Jones's stories are full of high-octane, prose-drunk entertainment. His characters are grifters and drifters, rogues and ne'er-do-wells, would-be do-gooders whose human frailties usually get the better of them. Some are lovable, others are not, but each has an indelible and irresistible voice. They include Vietnam soldiers, amateur boxers, devoted doctors, strung-out advertising writers, pill poppers and veterans of the psych ward, and an unforgettable adolescent DJ radio host, among others. The stories here are excursions into a unique world that veers between abject desperation and fleeting transcendence. Perhaps no other writer in recent memory could encapsulate in such short spaces the profound and the devastating, the poignant and the hallucinatory, with such an exquisite balance of darkness and light. Jones's fiction reveals again and again the resilience and grace of characters who refuse to succumb. In stories that can at once delight us with their wicked humor and sting us with their affecting pathos, Night Train perfectly captures the essence of this iconic American master, showcasing in a single collection the breadth of power of his inimitable fiction.

Night Train: New and Selected Stories

Literature & Fiction

United States

Little. Brown and Company

A posthumous and definitive collection of new and selected stories by "virtuoso of the short story" (Esquire) and National Book Award finalist Thom Jones.\nThis scorching collection from award-winning author Thom Jones features his best new short fiction alongside a selection of outstanding stories from three previous books. Jones's stories are full of high-octane, prose-drunk entertainment. His characters are grifters and drifters, rogues and ne'er-do-wells, would-be do-gooders whose human frailties usually get the better of them.\nSome are lovable, others are not, but each has an indelible and irresistible voice. They include Vietnam soldiers, amateur boxers, devoted doctors, strung-out advertising writers, pill poppers and veterans of the psych ward, and an unforgettable adolescent DJ radio host, among others.\nThe stories here are excursions into a unique world that veers between abject desperation and fleeting transcendence. Perhaps no other writer in recent memory could encapsulate in such short spaces the profound and the devastating, the poignant and the hallucinatory, with such an exquisite balance of darkness and light. Jones's fiction reveals again and again the resilience and grace of characters who refuse to succumb. In stories that can at once delight us with their wicked humor and sting us with their affecting pathos, Night Train perfectly captures the essence of this iconic American master, showcasing in a single collection the breadth of power of his inimitable fiction.

Twelve short stories by the National Book Award finalist of Pugilist at Rest follow the stories of mental hospital affiliates, including a Vietnam vet, a brilliant but burned out doctor, and a young amateur fighter. 25,000 first printing.

Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine: Stories

Little,Brown & Co

Twelve stories that teeter between wicked humor and stinging pathos encompassdilapidated right arenas, state mental hospitals, and chaotic emergency roomswhere the inhabitants are brilliantly etched characters.

Contemporary

Ten stories provide jolting excursions through a world of desperation and fleeting transcendence, with protagonists ranging from a hard-luck fighter, to a drunken doctor in a remote African aid-station, to a strung-out advertising writer. Reprint.

Cold Snap: Stories

An anthology of stories by the 1993 O. Henry Award-winning author tackles such subjects as the combat zones of Vietnam, an alcoholic former boxer, and adultery. 20,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Little,Brown

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.

A collection of short works brings readers to the disease-infested areas of Rwanda and follows the stories of hard-struggling victims, devoted doctors, and a strung-out advertising writer who does the work of God. Tour.

These stories, whether set in the combat zones of Vietnam or the brittle social and intellectual milieu of an elite New England college are fueled by an almost brutal vision of the human condition, in a world without mercy or redemption.

Pugilist At Rest

Short Stories & Anthologies

Faber Faber Inc

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jones, Thom. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jones, Thom

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jones, Thom. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Pugilist at Rest: Stories

Night Train: New and Selected Stories

Night Train: New and Selected Stories

Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine: Stories

Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine: Stories

Cold Snap: Stories

The Pugilist at Rest: Stories

The Pugilist at Rest: Stories

Cold Snap: Stories

Pugilist At Rest