Most Popular Books by Ben Fountain

This award-winning satire shares a day in the life of a nineteen-year-old U.S. soldier home on leave from the Iraq War to take part in an NFL halftime show. A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at “the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal”—three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew—has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America’s most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide Victory Tour to reinvigorate public support for the war. Now, on this chilly and rainy Thanksgiving, the Bravos are guests of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show alongside the superstar pop group Destiny’s Child. Among the Bravos is the Silver Star–winning hero of Al-Ansakar Canal, Specialist William Lynn, a nineteen-year-old Texas native. Amid clamoring patriots sporting flag pins on their lapels and Support Our Troops bumper stickers on their cars, the Bravos are thrust into the company of the Cowboys’ hard-nosed businessman/owner and his coterie of wealthy colleagues; a luscious born-again Cowboys cheerleader; a veteran Hollywood producer; and supersized pro players eager for a vicarious taste of war. Among these faces Billy sees those of his family—his worried sisters and broken father—and Shroom, the philosophical sergeant who opened Billy’s mind and died in his arms at Al-Ansakar. Over the course of this day, Billy will begin to understand difficult truths about himself, his country, his struggling family, and his brothers-in-arms—soldiers both dead and alive. In the final few hours before returning to Iraq, Billy will drink and brawl, yearn for home and mourn those missing, face a heart-wrenching decision, and discover pure love and a bitter wisdom far beyond his years . . . Poignant, riotously funny, and exquisitely heartbreaking, Billy Lynn''s Long Halftime Walk is a devastating portrait of our time, a searing and powerful novel that cements Ben Fountain’s reputation as one of the finest writers of his generation. Now a major motion picture directed by Ang Lee Praise for Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk Finalist for the National Book Award Winner, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction Winner, Los Angeles Times Book Award for Fiction “Brilliantly done . . . grand, intimate, and joyous.” —New York Times Book Review “The Catch-22 of the Iraq War.” —Karl Marlantes

With masterful pacing and a robust sense of the absurd, each story in Brief Encounters with Che Guevara is a self-contained adventure, steeped in the heady mix of tragedy and danger, excitement and hope, that characterizes countries in transition."--BOOK JACKET.

In a sweeping work of reportage set over the course of 2016, New York Times bestselling author Ben Fountain recounts a surreal year of politics and an exploration of the third American existential crisis Twice before in its history, the United States has been faced with a crisis so severe it was forced to reinvent itself in order to survive: first, the struggle over slavery, culminating in the Civil War, and the second, the Great Depression, which led to President Roosevelt’s New Deal and the establishment of America as a social-democratic state. In a sequence of essays that excavate the past while laying bare the political upheaval of 2016, Ben Fountain argues that the United States may be facing a third existential crisis, one that will require a “burning” of the old order as America attempts to remake itself. Beautiful Country Burn Again narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa Caucus to the crystalizing moments of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and culminating in the aftershocks of the weeks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present, from the hollowed-out notion of the American Dream, to Richard Nixon’s southern strategy, to our weaponized new conception of American exceptionalism, to the cult of celebrity that gave rise to Donald Trump. In an urgent and deeply incisive voice, Ben Fountain has fused history and the present day to paint a startling portrait of the state of our nation. Beautiful Country Burn Again is a searing indictment of how we came to this point, and where we may be headed.

WINNER OF THE 2024 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR''S CHOICE • WASHINGTON POST BEST FICTION OF 2023 • From the award-winning, bestselling author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk comes a brilliant and propulsive new novel about greed, power, and American complicity set in Haiti "An engrossing, psychologically complex and politically astute novel." —The New York Times Haiti, 1991. When a violent coup d’état leads to the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, American expat Matt Amaker is forced to abandon his idyllic, beachfront scuba business. With the rise of a brutal military dictatorship and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country’s most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in the chaos–and others are just looking to make it through another day. Desperate for money—and survival—Matt teams up with his best friend and business partner Alix Variel, the adventurous only son of a socially prominent Haitian family. They set their sights on legendary shipwrecks that have been rumored to contain priceless treasures off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast. Their ambition and exploration of these disastrous wrecks come with a cascade of ill-fated incidents—one that involves Misha, Alix’s erudite sister, who stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S. government humanitarian aid office, and rookie CIA case officer Audrey O’Donnell, who finds herself doing clandestine work on an assignment that proves to be more difficult and dubious than she could have possibly imagined. Devil Makes Three’s depiction of blood politics, the machinations of power, and a country in the midst of upheaval is urgently and insistently resonant. This new novel is sure to cement Ben Fountain’s reputation as one of the twenty-first century’s boldest and most perceptive writers.

Vincitore del National Book Critics Circle Award Vincitore del Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize Vincitore del Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalista al National Book Award Fra i 100 "Notable Books of the Year" per il New York Times I dieci soldati della squadra Bravo hanno compiuto una coraggiosa azione di guerra in Iraq, immortalata per caso dalle telecamere di un tg; trasformati di colpo in eroi nazionali, vengono richiamati in patria per due settimane di Victory Tour (interviste in tv, visita alla Casa Bianca, comizi pubblici aperti dal sermone di un predicatore), che culminano nell''apparizione come ospiti d''onore alla tradizionale, popolarissima partita di football del Giorno del Ringraziamento. Durante questa fatidica giornata, fra le strette di mano ai petrolieri texani, le canne fumate di nascosto, il trauma ancora vivissimo della recente morte di un compagno, la sensualità delle cheerleader, le avances di Hollywood e una proposta di diserzione, il diciannovenne caporale Billy Lynn cerca di non impazzire: la mattina dopo, la squadra deve tornare al fronte. La spettacolarizzazione dello sport e della guerra, il conflitto di classe, lo strapotere dell''entertainment e del mercato, ma anche la forza dell''amicizia, la paura della morte, la scoperta dell''amore: c''è tutto questo, in un romanzo scatenato e brillante, osannato dalla critica, che ha consacrato il suo autore come una delle migliori voci della letteratura americana di oggi.

En la mitja part més mediàtica de la televisió mundial, a la Super Bowl del Dia d''Acció de Gràcies, el soldat Billy Lynn i set companys de l''escamot Bravo tenen el seu segon moment de glòria. El primer va ser a la vall d''Al-Ansakar, a l''Irak, on el seu heroisme en un enfrontament amb forces enemigues els va fer mereixedors de diverses medalles al valor. La Casa Blanca, conscient que les guerres es guanyen, sobretot, amb diners, els ha reclamat per fer la Gira de la Victòria i recaptar fons. El Billy passa sense descompressió de la sang, els trets i la mort, al luxe i la barra lliure d''alcohol. D''un camp de batalla a un altre. En el primer podia morir, però en coneixia les regles.

Em plena guerra do Iraque, a equipe de uma emissora de TV registra uma violenta batalha de soldados americanos contra insurgentes iraquianos. Três minutos e quarenta e três segundos de brutalidade são suficientes para transformar o jovem cabo Billy Lynn e seus sete companheiros sobreviventes do esquadrão Bravo em heróis nacionais. Os oito militares são convidados pelo governo para realizar uma Turnê da Vitória, cruzando os Estados Unidos com o objetivo de estimular o apoio às tropas norte-americanas. Os homens do Bravo são recebidos como salvadores da pátria, dão entrevistas e estampam capas de revistas. São até mesmo convidados para visitar a Casa Branca. A apoteose da turnê está marcada para o Dia de Ação de Graças, no intervalo de um importante jogo de futebol americano no Texas Stadium. Mas nada sai como planejado. Imersos em um mundo dominado por política, dinheiro, profissionais do show business, jogadores de futebol americano e líderes de torcida, os integrantes do Bravo pensam apenas em aproveitar os últimos momentos de liberdade, pois em breve deverão enfrentar o que deixaram no Iraque — a atrocidade do conflito e os companheiros mortos em combate —, e serão obrigados a mais uma vez abrir mão de suas ilusões e de sua inocência em favor da guerra. Com uma prosa sofisticada, engraçada e devastadora, A longa caminhada de Billy Lynn é um retrato ácido e impactante de nosso tempo, um livro poderoso, que coloca Ben Fountain entre os melhores escritores da atualidade. “Ben Fountain esmiúça uma sociedade cujas prioridades são lamentavelmente descabidas.” The New Yorker “Fountain tem um formidável talento para os diálogos, e sua linguagem viva e afiada é devastadora.” The Guardian “Obra potente que faz jus a um Pulitzer. Uma sátira vívida, intrépida e hilariante das guerras apoiadas pela sociedade americana." The San Francisco Chronicle

Un accrochage avec des insurgés irakiens, trois minutes quarante trois de pure violence filmées par Fox News, désormais en boucle sur YouTube, et les huit survivants de la compagnie Bravo deviennent du jour au lendemain les enfants chéris de l''Amérique. Les stars de la « Tournée de la Victoire », montée pour ranimer la flamme du soutien à la guerre, qui doit se clôturer par leur présence à la mi-temps du grand match de football de Thanksgiving à Dallas, aux côtés d''un célébrissime groupe pop. Mais rien ne va se dérouler comme prévu. Perdu entre les richissimes propriétaires et les joueurs du club des Cowboys, les sponsors, un vieux producteur hollywoodien et une pulpeuse pom-pom girl évangéliste, Billy Lynn, dix-neuf ans, héros malgré lui, ne pense, comme ses frères d''armes, qu''à une seule chose : profiter au maximum de ses derniers jours de permission. Repartira-t-il pour l''Irak laissant derrière lui ses illusions et son innocence. Un livre ravageur sur le monde d''aujourd''hui : le Catch 22 de la guerre d''Irak. « À la fois hilarant et déchirant. » Pat Conroy

Three minutes and forty-three seconds of intensive warfare with Iraqi insurgents--caught on tape by a Fox News crew--has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America''s most sought-after heroes. Now they''re on a media-intensive nationwide tour to reinvigorate public support for the war. On Thanksgiving Day, the Bravos are guests of a Dallas football team, slated to be part of the halftime show. Among the Bravos is nineteen-year-old Specialist Billy Lynn. Surrounded by patriots sporting flag pins on their lapels and support our troops bumper stickers, he is thrust into the company of the team''s owner and his coterie of wealthy colleagues. Over the course of the day, Billy will drink and brawl, yearn for home and mourn those missing, face a heart-wrenching decision and discover pure love and a bitter wisdom far beyond his years. Poignant, riotously funny, and exquisitely heartbreaking, Billy Lynn''s Long Halftime Walk is a searing and powerful novel that has cemented Ben Fountain''s reputation as one of the finest writers of his generation. The English-language edition was turned into a major motion picture in 2016. Los ocho supervivientes del escuadrón Bravo se enfrentan al último tramo del Tour de la Victoria, tras protagonizar en Irak una heroica hazaña bélica que se hizo viral en YouTube y enardeció el ánimo patriótico de todo un país. Después de dos semanas de baños de multitudes y de ser recibidos con pompa por el presidente Bush en la Casa Blanca, serán agasajados por la turba enfervorecida del Texas Stadium, en el corazón de la América más profunda y conservadora, dos días antes de volver al frente. El soldado raso Billy Lynn, de diecinueve años, héroe de la hazaña de Al Ansakar, en la que ha perdido a su mejor amigo, se debate entre la fascinación del ardor yanqui que suscita entre sus compatriotas y el terrorífico e inminente retorno a Irak. El multimillonario dueño de los Texas Cowboys, Norman Oglesby, será su maestro de ceremonias en esta recepción en la que compartirán escenario con Beyoncé y las Destiny''s Child en el espectáculo de la media parte. En su viaje por las entrañas del American dream, los Bravo se cruzarán con magnates del petróleo, un productor de Hollywood que planea hacer una película con su historia protagonizada por Hilary Swank, cheerleaders neumáticas que cortan la respiración, jugadores de fútbol americano de dimensiones sobrehumanas y una plétora de fanáticos que vomitarán su fervor nacional sobre los atribulados soldados. La primera novela de Ben Fountain, ganadora del National Book Critics Circle Award y finalista del National Book Award, fue recibida con gran entusiasmo por crítica y lectores cuando se publicó en 2012, y se convirtió en un best seller. Con un lenguaje vigoroso, repleto de metáforas inolvidables propias del mejor Tom Wolfe, Fountain compone un feroz retrato de la reciente guerra de Irak y una sátira devastadora e hilarante del American way of life. En noviembre de 2016, se estrena la versión cinematográfica del libro, dirigida por el oscarizado Ang Lee y protagonizada por Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, y el debutante Joe Alwyn en el papel de Billy Lynn.

America brucia ancora è un reportage dalla scioccante campagna elettorale 2016, quella in cui il mostro della politica americana si è infine ribellato al suo creatore, la realtà ha superato la fantasia e uno dei candidati ha fatto e detto cose che avrebbero affossato chiunque altro uscendone non solo indenne, ma vincitore. Come diavolo siamo arrivati a questo punto? Per provare a dare una risposta Ben Fountain indaga il passato – dal razzismo mai sradicato che ha avuto la sua massima espressione nella «Southern strategy», al culto della personalità che ha portato alla ribalta celebri cialtroni, alle diseguaglianze che affondano le radici nello schiavismo e sono state poi replicate in ogni epoca. Nelle sue mani la storia torna nuova, fresca, viva, e si fonde con il presente per darci un vivido ritratto della nazione: una diagnosi dei sintomi che ammalano l''America e al tempo stesso un''affascinante chiave di lettura utile a gettare luce sugli scenari futuri. Già due volte, infatti, gli Stati Uniti hanno dovuto bruciare la propria identità per ricostruirla in modo radicale: la prima fu la sanguinosa guerra civile combattuta per mettere fine alla schiavitù, e la seconda fu la Grande Depressione, che innescò le politiche del New Deal e la nascita dello stato sociale. Quella a cui assistiamo oggi potrebbe essere la terza crisi esistenziale dell''America. Sulla scia del lavoro condotto da Hunter Thompson nella campagna presidenziale del 1972 e da Joan Didion in quella del 1988, Ben Fountain, con il suo occhio per l''assurdo e la sua capacità di mappare le compulsioni, le stranezze e l''ostinato attaccamento alla fantasia dell''America, ci regala uno dei migliori scritti politici degli ultimi cinquant''anni.

De negentienjarige Billy Lynn keert tijdens de Irakoorlog met speciaal verlof terug naar huis. Hij is een nationale held: een cameraploeg heeft Billy en zijn divisie gevolgd bij een hevig vuurgevecht met Irakese opstandelingen. Het filmpje van nog geen vier minuten is een enorme hit op YouTube. De Bush-regering ziet promotionele mogelijkheden, haalt de compagnie terug en organiseert een overwinningstournee door het land. Het boek beschrijft de laatste uren van de tournee en volgt Billy en zijn team tijdens een enerverende middag in gezelschap van miljonairs en politici, hufters en gewone burgers, cheerleaders en Beyoncé Knowles. Billy Lynn en hoe hij de rust overleefde is ongemeen geestig en scherp, maar ook ontroerend en meeslepend. Een zeer actuele roman over acht jongemannen die worstelen met hun heldenstatus, hun kater, het onbegrijpelijke sterven van hun kompanen en hun opspelende hormonen, want ze zijn nog geen twintig.

Traditional Chinese edition of Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk, a National Book Award finalist and a New York Time''s bestseller. An infantryman, part of the unit called the Bravo Squad, recounts the final hours before he and his fellow soldiers return to Iraq. Three-time Oscar winner Ang Lee is directing the movie based on the novel. In Traditional Chinese. Annotation copyright Tsai Fong Books, Inc. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

In his introduction to "The Best American Short Stories 2008," Salman Rushdie called Ecotone one of a handful of journals on which "the health of the American short story depends." Now at the close of an award-winning first decade, the magazine has established itself as a preeminent venue for original short fiction from both recognized and emerging writers, with more than twenty stories from sixteen issues reprinted or noted in the "Best American, New Stories from the South, Pushcart," and "PEN/O. Henry" series. With the publication of this anthology, Lookout Books makes a permanent home for the vital work of "Ecotone" regular contributors Steve Almond, Rick Bass, Edith Pearlman, Ron Rash, Bill Roorbach, and Brad Watson, along with rising talents Lauren Groff, Ben Stroud, and Kevin Wilson, among others. In keeping with the magazine s mission to reimagine place, the collection explores transitional zones, the spaces where we are most threatened and alive. From a ci

A történet főhőse, Billy Lynn, az Irakban harcoló amerikai különítmény egyik katonája, aki nyolc, életben maradt társával együtt szabadságra tér haza Amerikába. Feletteseik azt szervezik meg, hogy harctéri hőstetteik jutalmul a hálaadás napi Dallas Cowboys futballcsapat meccsén, amelynek szünetében Beyoncé énekel, hatalmas diadalmenettel köszöntik a haza fiait. A stadion lelkes közönsége üvöltve éljenzi a hősöket, Billy eközben egy gyors "menetet" is lezavar egy csinos pompom-lánnyal, ám egyre inkább úgy érzi, hogy agyára megy az ünneplés. Dühíti, hogy a lelkendező amerikai közönségnek fogalma sincs arról, hogy mi zajlik valójában Irakban, milyen is a borzalmakkal teli háború, és elkeseredetten veszi tudomásul, hogy emlékeiben - az ünneplés csinnadrattája közben - bajtársai halálának képei "dobódnak fel". Nyomasztja a tudat, hogy az ünneplés után vissza kell térniük Irakba... A regény kíméletlen és pontos leírását adja Amerika Irakban folyó háborúja hátterének, a valóságnak, amely igencsak eltér a hivatalos amerikai sajtó véleményétől. Szatíra a javából ez a "háborús" történet, amely felidézheti az olvasóban Joseph Heller világhírű regényét, a 22-es csapdáját, s ha a mostani történet olykor meglehetősen szívszorító is, a szerző szarkazmussal teli, remek stílusa gyakorta nevetésbe fullasztja a szomorkodást. Az Amerikai Könyvkritikusok Díját elnyert regényből a háromszoros Oscar-díjas Ang Lee készít filmet.

Récompensé en 2007 par le prix Pen Hemingway, Ben Fountain fait preuve d''autant de style que d''imagination. De la Colombie à la Birmanie, de la Sierra Leone à Haïti en passant par les États-Unis et la Vienne Fin-de-siècle, ses nouvelles appréhendent le monde sous un angle inédit et parfois ironique. On y croise les personnages naïfs, prisonniers malgré eux de situations périlleuses. Comme ce jeune ornithologue idéaliste, pris en otage par des rebelles colombiens, qui réalise que la Révolution est, elle aussi, un business. Ou cette employée d''une ONG qui troque ses idéaux contre les précieux bénéfices du trafic de diamants en Afrique... En filigrane, la mondialisation et ses paradoxes, le profit et la corruption composent un tableau détonant et parfois glaçant de notre époque.