Richard Jones is an American poet. He was born in London, England, received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently The Correct Spelling & Exact Meaning (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), as well as a number of limited edition volumes. The Blessing: New and Selected Poems, a selection of poems from six of his books, received the Midland Authors Award for Poetry for 2000. He is also the editor of the critical anthology Poetry and Politics (William Morrow and Company, 1985). In 2000, he published a compact disc, Body and Soul, in which he discusses the art of poetry. In 2011, he published Thunder on the Mountain (East of Eden Press), a nonfiction book that explores the relationship between poetry and painting. He is editor of the literary journal Poetry East and its many anthologies, including The Last Believer in Words and Bliss. He is currently professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago, where he has taught since 1987. He lives north of Chicago with his wife and three children.
Plot
4 interlocking stories all connected by a single gun all converge at the end and reveal a complex and tragic story of the lives of humanity around the world and how we truly aren't all that different. In Morocco, a troubled married couple are on vacation trying to work out their differences. Meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. A girl in Japan dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a disability among many other issues, deals with modern life in the enormous metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. Then, on the opposite side of the world the married couple's Mexican nanny takes the couple's 2 children with her to her son's wedding in Mexico, only to come into trouble on the return trip. Combined, it provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking glass into the lives of seemingly random people around the world and it shows just how connected we really are.
Keywords: 4-stories, accident, accidental-shooting, actual-animal-killed, alone, ambulance, american, arrest, aunt-nephew-relationship, balcony
If You Want to be Understood...Listen
Tragedy is universal
A single gunshot heard around the world.
A global disaster.
Pain is universal... But so is hope.
One shot, many kills.
Richard: What about you? How many wives do you have?::Anwar: I can only afford one.
Yussef: I killed the American, I was the only one who shot at you. They did nothing... nothing. Kill me, but save my brother, he did nothing... nothing. Save my brother... he did nothing.
Amelia: Help! Ayudame! HELP!
Richard: [to other tourists] You leave, I'll kill you. I'll kill you!
Richard: This is your fucked-up country, it's your responsibility!
[first lines]::Hassan: It's almost new. Three hundred cartridges. The guy who gave it to me said you can hit as far as three kilometers.
[last lines]::Japanese newscaster: Susan Jones, who was wounded in a terrorist attack in Morocco, was discharged from a Casablanca hospital this morning, local time. The American people finally have a happy ending, after five days of frantic phone calls and hand wringing. In other news...
[last title card]::Title card: To my children, Maria Eladia and Elisio... the brightest lights in the darkest night.
Mike Jones: My mom said Mexico is dangerous.::Santiago: [in Spanish] Yes, it's full of Mexicans.
Chieko: [signing] They look at us like we're monsters.
Armed With The Code Of The Shadow Warrior His Honor Is His Life.
Police Captain: Congratulations, Jay. You handled your first robbery very well.::Officer Jay: Thanks, but it's not that simple. I suspect someone's behind these robberies.::Officer #2: I think it's those ninjas!
Drug Agent #1: Hey, don't waste your time looking for the bombs. There're just too many of them hidden all over that ship. I say we better look for the detonator instead.::Drug Agent #2: Uh, great, and where do ya think that detonator could be?::Drug Agent #1: Were it up to me, I'd put it in the control room. You know, the control room. That's the center of all the electrical system. I wonder if you know where it is?::Drug Agent #3: [pointing 2 feet away] Yeah, it's right in there.::Drug Agent #1: Ummm. Let's go!
Ninja #1: Allright, let's go!... Hold it!::Ninja #2: Where did he go? He's gone!::Ninja #1: That's right! Were missing a ninja!
Plot
A young man who has proven a failure in business goes to Alaska and enters the salmon-fishing industry, in direct competition with the father of the woman he loves.
Keywords: alaska, based-on-novel, fishing