a book
True Grit
Charles Portis · 2002 · 240 pages
The #1 New York Times bestselling classic frontier adventure novel, with over two million copies in print
True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father's blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. First brought to the big screen in the classic 1969 western starring John Wayne and remade brilliantly in 2010 by the Coen brothers and starring Jeff Bridges, True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself. From a writer of true status, this is an American classic through and through.
This mass-market edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt.
True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father's blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. First brought to the big screen in the classic 1969 western starring John Wayne and remade brilliantly in 2010 by the Coen brothers and starring Jeff Bridges, True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself. From a writer of true status, this is an American classic through and through.
This mass-market edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt.
recommended by 4 people
sourced from public statements
Anthony Bourdain
“The greatest female protagonist I’ve ever read. Portis is one of the most underrated under appreciated authors of the 20th century. Forget the film versions. Read the book. His book, ‘Dog Of The South,’ is also brilliant.”↗
Bob Odenkirk
“Two books on one list — this guy outdid himself! Portis’ most famous book is a more traditionally structured story than Dog of the South, and yet its central voice is so likable — somehow cynical and, at the same time, forgiving.”↗
David Mamet
“The dialogue in True Grit is exquisite. Portis was inspired, I believe, by the work of Andy Adams (1859–1935), an actual cowpuncher, who wrote the best fiction of the frontier. Read Adams’ The Log of a Cowboy and A Texas Matchmaker, both novels of the trail drive, for a visit to Reconstruction Texas.”↗
