James Jones

Jones, James

Jones, James (1921–77), Illinois‐born author, served in the Pacific with the army (1939–44), his experiences furnishing background for From Here to Eternity (1951), a naturalistic novel about army life in Hawaii on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack. His later fiction includes Some Came Running (1957), a long, panoramic novel set in a Midwestern town between World War II and the Korean War; The Pistol (1959), a novella about an army private who accidentally obtains a pistol that comes to be his symbol of safety in war; The Thin Red Line (1962), a novel about a U.S. infantry company on Guadalcanal in 1942–43, a sequel to his first novel; Go to the Widow‐Maker (1967), presenting a successful playwright's quest for manhood through his experiences in learning to skin‐dive; The Merry Month of May (1971), depicting crises, personal and political, of an American family in Paris during the riots of May 1968; A Touch of Danger (1973), a detective tale set on a Greek island; and Whistle (1978), the final volume of Jones's World War II trilogy, depicting the difficulties four wounded soldiers have in adjusting to civilian life. The Ice‐Cream Headache (1968) collects stories and a novella, and Viet Journal (1974) describes his trip to Vietnam in 1973. His collected letters were gathered under the title To Reach Eternity (1989).

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Jones, James." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Jones, James." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-JonesJames.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Jones, James." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-JonesJames.html

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James Jones

James Jones 1921–77, American novelist, b. Robinson, Ill. Written in the tradition of naturalism , his novels often celebrate the endurance of man. From Here to Eternity (1951), his best-known work and the first of a trilogy, is a powerful story of army life in Hawaii immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor; The Thin Red Line (1962) and Whistle (1978) complete the series. His other novels include Some Came Running (1957) and A Touch of Danger (1973). Viet Journal (1974) is an account of his trip to Vietnam.

Bibliography: See biography by F. MacShane (1985); study by J. R. Giles (1981).

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"James Jones." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"James Jones." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-JonesJa.html

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