True Grit -- Charles Portis, Paperback

Charles Portis's true American classic novel and #1 New York Times bestseller, "an epic and a legend" (The Washington Post)

Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America's most enduring and incomparable literary voices, and his novels have left an indelible mark on the American canon. True Grit, his most famous novel, was first published in 1968, and has garnered critical acclaim as well as enthusiastic praise from countless passionate fans for more than fifty years. It was the basis for two award-winning films, including the wildly praised remake by the Coen brothers, selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for the Big Read Library, and was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father's blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer.

True Grit is essential reading, an undeniable American classic as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself. This edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt and a reading group guide.


Author: Charles Portis
Publisher: Overlook Press
Published: 11/05/2010
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.30w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781590204597
Age Range: 18-UP

Review Citation(s):
Entertainment Weekly 10/10/2014 pg. 68
Entertainment Weekly 09/04/2015 pg. 44

About the Author
Charles Portis lives in Arkansas, where he was born and educated. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, was the London bureau chief of the "New York Herald-Tribune," and was a writer for "The New Yorker." True Grit is the basis for two movies, the 1969 classic starring John Wayne and the 2010 version starring Academy Award(r) winner Jeff Bridges and written and directed by the Coen brothers.