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True Grit

by Charles Portis

True Grit Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Charles Portis has been acclaimed as one of America's foremost comic writers. True Grit is his most famous novel — first published in 1968 — and the basis for the movie of the same name starring John Wayne (for which he won his only Academy Award). It tells the story of Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, who sets out in the winter of eighteen seventy-something to avenge the murder of her father.

Since not even Mattie (who is no self-doubter) would ride into Indian Territory alone, she convinces one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshall, to tag along with her. As Mattie outdickers and outmaneuvers the hard-bitten types in her path, as her performance under fire makes them eat their words, her indestructible vitality and harsh innocence by turns amuse, horrify, and touch the reader. What happens — to Mattie, to the gang of outlaws unfortunate enough to tangle with her — rings with the dramatic rightness of legend and the marvelous overtones, the continual surprises, of personality.

True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself, who tells the story a half-century later in a voice that sounds strong and sure enough to outlast us all.

Review:

"I've always thought Charles Portis had a wonderful talent — original, quirky, exciting." Larry McMurtry

Review:

"The best novel to come my way for a very long time....What a writer!" Roald Dahl

Review:

"It is a delight. Mattie Ross from near Dardanelle, Arkansas, is here to stay, like Huck Finn." Walker Percy

Synopsis:

Portis is one of America's foremost comic writers. True Grit is his most famous novel and the basis for the movie of the same name starring John Wayne. It tells the story of Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl from Arkansas, who sets out in the winter of 1870-something to avenge the murder of her father.

About the Author

Charles Portis lives in Arkansas, where he was born and educated. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. As a reporter, he wrote for the New York Herald-Tribune and was also its London bureau chief. He is the author of four other novels, including Masters of Atlantis, The Dog of the South, Norwood, and Gringos.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781585679386
Author:
Portis, Charles
Publisher:
Overlook Press
Author:
Donna, Tartt
Afterword:
Donna, Tartt
Subject:
Westerns - General
Subject:
Death
Subject:
Teenage girls
Subject:
Adventure
Subject:
Western stories
Edition Description:
Parental Adviso
Publication Date:
September 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
7.96x5.42x.59 in. .44 lbs.

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