This collector's volume features the complete fiction and nonfiction of Charles Portis, showcasing his comic genius and storytelling prowess. Renowned for works like "True Grit," Portis captures the essence of the American voice. His narratives blend humor with poignant themes, making them essential reading in American literature.
Charles Portis Books
December 28, 1933 – February 17, 2020
Charles Portis is celebrated for his distinctive narrative voice, characterized by dry wit and sharp observations of human nature. His works delve into themes of honor, loyalty, and the search for identity within morally ambiguous landscapes. Portis masterfully employs language to craft unforgettable characters and atmospheric settings that draw readers into his stories. His unique style and literary skill make him a significant figure in American letters.
Escape Velocity
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
Though Charles Portis is best known for his fiction writing, he is also a prolific essayist, travel writer, and newspaper reporter.
True Grit
- 215 pages
- 8 hours of reading
There is no knowing what lies in a man's heart. On a trip to buy ponies, Frank Ross is killed by one of his own workers. Tom Chaney shoots him down in the street for a horse, $150 cash, and two Californian gold pieces. Ross's unusually mature and single-minded fourteen-year-old daughter Mattie travels to claim his body, and finds that the authorities are doing nothing to find Chaney. Then she hears of Rooster - a man, she's told, who has grit - and convinces him to join her in a quest into dark, dangerous Indian territory to hunt Chaney down and avenge her father's murder.
1917 France, Lamar Jimmerson finds a little book of Atlantean puzzles, Egyptian riddles, alchemical metaphors, and the Codex Pappus said to be the sacred Gnomonic text. He expands the noble brotherhood, survives scandalous schism, bids for governor of Indiana, and sees Gnomons gather in East Texas mobile home. This is an America of misfits and con men, oddballs and innocents.
The Dog of the South
- 272 pages
- 10 hours of reading
From Arkansas down to New Mexico and eventually leading to Honduras, a man is on the hunt for his wife who is following her first husband by a trail of credit card receipts.