Rating: 
Summary: 3 Vietnam Stories, 8 Skipable Stories
Review: his collection of 11 stories starts with a trilogy of Vietnam war era stories--which are easily the best of the lot. It's also some of the best Vietnam fiction out there. In the other stories, Jones does imagine vivid and distinct characters (some of which reappear), but I personally found it hard to sympathize with many of them--which is probably why I ultimately didn't find this book as fulfilling as many other people did. For all the talk of the stories being "raw," and "full or rage," and "dark," well... maybe if you're only used to reading mainstream fiction. Many of stories link to epilepsy (which I gather Jones has), boxing, and philosophy. It's all too Henry Rollinsish for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Short of Awesome
Review: I beg to differ with the reader from New York/Arizona. I can't imagine a more compelling, realistic world than that which Thom Jones creates for his characters to inhabit. "I Want to Live" is easily the best short-story I've read during the past decade, and among the very best of the century. (It was, in fact, chosen for inclusion in the Best American Short Stories of the Century.) There's not a false word in this collection, as far as I'm concerned; not a sentence that doesn't ring true. This is as gritty and powerful as fiction gets.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant.
Review: I generally don't post reviews on here, but seeing Thom Jones called 'tacky' is just too much for my sensitive mind to bear. There is nothing 'tacky' about this guy, and there's certainly nothing tacky about his stories. They're remarkable -- plot, prose, philosophy, sentiment... all are beyond reproach. He's simply the best living short story writer, period. Probably one of the best ever (it's all subjective, ain't it?). 'I want to live,' already discussed by several people, is unusually moving and manages to convey in a few short pages an overwhelming sense of what one not-too-old dying woman goes through. So what if Jones digs schopenhauer and is not afraid to tell us about him? Anything that can be done by fiction writers to make people consider philosophy -- especially long-underappreciated Schopenhauer -- is, to me, welcome. And the Ad Magic stories which appear in 'Cold Snap' and 'The Pugilist at Rest' are just incredible. As for the critique of Jones on the grounds that his medical knowledge is insufficient -- please. That's not any kind of literary criticism, even if Jones had gotten the drug stuff completely wrong. It's just irrelevant nit-picking.If you have not read anything by Thom Jones, do it. Buy something on here. Go to the store. Check one of his books out from the library.
Rating:
Summary: SHORT STORIES YOU REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME
Review: I last read this book 11 years ago when it came out in its first edition, and I still remember each story with such clarity it's like I just finished reading it this morning. That's nothing to do with my (atrocious) memory, but with the power and clarity of Jones' writing.
I liken Thom Jones to a literary Tom Waits.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: I practically devoured this book. A co-worker, an English major and writer, and I were swapping recommended books and I bought a copy of "The Pugilist at Rest" for her because I couldn't bear to part with my own copy. While the Viet Nam-based stories reminded me of Tim O'Brien, the rest was pure Jones. His ability to write in such disparate voices is nothing short of amazing. In my not-so-humble opinion, Thom Jones is the best American writer working today.
Rating:
Summary: Stories About Hypermasculinity Never Disappoint
Review: Jones' best stories here, the ones that deal with the aftermath of Vietnam, are about the conflict between the soldier's need to develop a predatory, demonic spirit to survive in wartime and how that spirit, so hypermasculine and effective in war, is tragically in conflict with civilian life as the soldiers seem to enter a demonic world of no return. Jones' title story, reading like an autobiographical essay, is about a man who tries to make that return and salvage his life and save it from nihilism. Unlike Krebs in Hemingway's "Soldier's Home," the narrator finds at least some kind of love (he loves his dogs) as he courageously lives on with his deep psychic war scars. About a half dozen stories in the collection develop this same theme, all with power and unflinching brutality.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided Notions of Machismo Propel Most of the Stories
Review: The best of these stories, "The Pugilist at Rest," "Mosquitos," and "A White Horse" dramatize men who are trapped in misguided notions of masculinity, through their fighting prowess and the acquisition of money and power. The men endure severe growing pains as they realize that they have to redefine themselves if they are ever to find grace and redemption. I prefer this collection to Jones' more recent collections.
Rating: 
Summary: A great find
Review: This is a critically acclaimed collection of short stories from a writer many people put near the top of the list of great living writers. It starts off with three Viet Nam stories, then eight other stories. Many of the characters and themes repeat-Viet Nam vets, boxers, epilepsy, philosophy. The stories are raw and the characters are intense, violent, very flawed heroes. Online, the majority of the criticism about the stories is that they exude a stereotypical machismo. I thought the opposite. I thought the machismo was very unstereotypical. I can't think of anyone I've read about who would break your face and then contemplate Schopenhauer. There was one story, about a woman dying, that I thought was a bit melo-dramatic, but most of the stories were quick, hard-hitting, and insightful.
Rating:
Summary: Short stories that i wish were longer
Review: Thom Jones writes like a person may think. He truly paints a picture of vivid colors and images in your head with this series of short stories. The three Vietnam stories at the front of the book make this book of short stories worth puchasing alone. So good infact that I had to read one of the stories over the second I finished reading it. Truly an incredible writer.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing restful about it
Review: Thom Jones' "Pugilist at Rest" is a fine collection of stories. The highlight of this book, however, are the three stories in the first section. Starting with the title story, these three pieces "feel" real. They all involve the same character and narrate his experiences in the Vietnam War. What's so great about the Vietnam stories is the authenticity. Not just in the description of the war, but in the emotions and thoughts of the protagonist. Many reviewers noted the author's hard-edged voice, the roughness, confusion, and violence swirling just beneath the surface. But what most fail to mention is the voice of longing and hope that create the foundation of Jones' Vietnam tales. The steamy jungles of Southeast Asia have taken a tough, street smart kid and wrung every drop of humanity from him. All that remained was a near-crazed epileptic with a detailed knowledge of boxing and Schopenhauer. But there's a spark of life and joy that drives the narrator on, that turns him outward and gives him inspiration to write. He's a fighter, aching to find a peaceful moment. The remaining stories are raw and amateurish, containing passages of wonder, but largely unauthentic. It's as if Jones churned these out in a writing class, inspired by an exercise on voice. I never got the sense that he actually believed in any of these stories. But the collection is worth the price of the book just for the opening three stories. In the same league as O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," Jones' war stories will no doubt be long considered as essential reading on the Vietnam War.
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