Most Popular Books by Charles Portis

#1 New York Times bestseller “An epic and a legend” —Washington Post “Quite simply, an American masterpiece.” —Boston Globe “The dialogue in True Grit is exquisite.” —David Mamet “Charles Portis had a wonderful talent—original, quirky, exciting.” —Larry McMurtry 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. This story of danger and adventure in the old west became the basis for two award-winning films, the first starring John Wayne, in his only Oscar-winning role, as Marshall Rooster Cogburn, and the widely praised remake by the Coen brothers, starring Jeff Bridges. True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father 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 US Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer. True Grit is essential reading. Not just a classic Western, but an undeniable classic of American literature as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself. For fans of either the John Wayne classic or the more recent Coen brothers’ movie, it’s a chance to relive the story of Mattie and Rooster and experience their story as it was originally told. For fans of taut, funny storytelling, it will be a joy to experience in its original form. This edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt (The Secret History and The Goldfinch) and a reading group guide.

Sent on a mission to New York he gets involved in a wild journey that takes him in and out of stolen cars, freight trains, and buses. By the time he returns home to Texas, Norwood has met his true love, Rita Lee, on a bus; befriended the second shortest midget in show business and “the world''s smallest perfect fat man†?; and helped Joann “the chicken with a college education,†? realize her true potential in life. As with all Portis’ fiction, the tone is cool, sympathetic, and funny.

From the author of ''True Grit'' comes this novel, ''The Dog of the South''.

Lamar Jimmerson is the leader of the Gnomon Society, the international fraternal order dedicated to preserving the arcane wisdom of the lost city of Atlantis. Stationed in France in 1917, Jimmerson comes across a little book crammed with Atlantean puzzles, Egyptian riddles, and extended alchemical metaphors. It''s the Codex Pappus - the sacred Gnomon text. Soon he is basking in the lore of lost Atlantis, convinced that his mission on earth is to administer to and extend the ranks of the noble brotherhood.

Follows the fortunes of an expatriate American in Mexico.

For those who care about literature or simply love a good laugh (or both), Charles Portis has long been one of America’s most admired novelists. His 1968 novel True Grit is fixed in the contemporary canon, and four more have been hailed as comic masterpieces. Now, for the first time, his other writings—journalism, travel stories, short fiction, memoir, and even a play—have been brought together in Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany, his first new book in more than twenty years. All the familiar Portis elements are here: picaresque adventures, deadpan humor, an expert eye for detail and keen ear for the spoken word, and encounters with oddball characters both real and imagined. The collection encompasses the breadth of his fifty-year writing career, from his gripping reportage of the civil rights movement for the New York Herald Tribune to a comic short story about the demise of journalism in the twenty-first century. New to even the most ardent fan is his three-act play, Delray’s New Moon, performed onstage in 1996 and published here for the first time. Whether this is your first encounter with the world of Portis or a long-awaited return to it, you’ll agree with critic Ron Rosenbaum—whose essay appears here alongside tributes by other writers—that Portis “will come to be regarded as the author of classics on the order of a twentieth-century Mark Twain, a writer who captures the soul of America.”

Sono gli anni Settanta dell''Ottocento quando la giovane Mattie Ross - l''inconfondibile voce narrante di questa storia, adorabile nella sua schiettezza - lascia a casa la madre e i fratelli in lacrime per avventurarsi alla ricerca di Tom Chaney, l''uomo a cui suo padre aveva dato lavoro e che l''ha ammazzato, unendosi poi a una banda di fuorilegge e fuggendo nel Territorio Indiano. Mattie è decisa a tutto pur di portare a termine la sua vendetta, ma per farlo è costretta a muoversi in un mondo ostile, ad affrontare uomini violenti, prepotenti, alcolizzati. Uomini come Reuben Cogburn, detto "Il Grinta", «un tipo duro e spietato, uno che non sa cos''è la paura» e che, assieme al ranger texano LaBoeuf, anch''egli sulle tracce di Chaney, diventerà suo compagno e alleato in una caccia all''uomo diventata leggendaria. Pubblicato nel 1968 e subito assurto allo status di classico accanto a libri come Le avventure di Huckleberry Finn e Il mago di Oz, Il Grinta riscrive le regole del genere western, offrendo ai lettori la voce sincera e spesso involontariamente umoristica di una protagonista indimenticabile, che a distanza di decenni dai fatti narrati getta il suo sguardo privo di illusioni sull''America della Frontiera e sui suoi miti.

Mattie Ross, de catorce años, se adentra en el Territorio Indio para buscar al criminal que mató a su padre y vengar su muerte. Dicen que no se puede saber qué anida en el corazón de un hombre. En un viaje para comprar caballos, Frank Ross es asesinado por uno de sus trabajadores por una montura, ciento cincuenta dólares y dos piezas de oro. Con catorce años, Mattie, la hija de Ross, está dispuesta a vengar una muerte que ha quedado impune y a reclamar el cuerpo de su padre. Recurrirá al comisario más «implacable y cruel» de Arkansas, el tuerto Rooster Cogburn. Se adentrará en el Territorio Indio si es necesario. Luchará contra cualquier forajido. Porque Mattie quiere demostrar que el suyo es un corazón noble. Y que su valor es de ley. Valor de ley es un clásico americano ambientado en el Oeste, una novela amada por generaciones de lectores desde su publicación en 1968 y la fuente de inspiración de dos películas formidables. Un libro tan delicioso como aterrador sobre la crueldad, la venganza y la ineludible entrada a la vida adulta. Y un ejemplo de coraje y vitalidad indestructible, como su conmovedora protagonista. Opinión: « Valor de ley es la mejor novela con que me topado en mucho tiempo. ¿Qué libro me ha proporcionado mayor placer en los últimos cinco años? ¿O en los últimos veinte? Pues no sé. ¡Vaya escritor!» Roald DAhl

Un flingue planqué au fond de sa glacière, Ray Midge, un drôle d''oiseau de vingt-six ans, quitte son Arkansas et part en quête de ce qu''il a perdu : sa femme, ses cartes de crédit, sa Ford Torino et sa tranquillité d''esprit. Cap au Sud, droit sur l''Amérique centrale ; le double des récépissés de CB fournie par sa banque retraçant l''itinéraire de la tourterelle en fuite - et de son odieux ravisseur, l''indécrottable Guy Dupree. Entre escrocs rêveurs, hippies réactionnaires, évangélistes et témoins de Dieu-sait-quoi en tous genres, l''irréductible gringo ramassera sur sa route le docteur Reo Symes : épave échouée au fond d''un parc à roulottes mexicain, praticien radié, vétéran revenu de tout dont le sens des affaires illégales et la moralité oblique semblent n''avoir aucune limite. Sous les tropiques, les retrouvailles conjugales se précisent, un fameux duel se prépare à l''ombre des ruines mayas : le vent se lève, un ouragan se profile au Belize... De quoi relever encore la verve ébouriffante et méchamment drôle de Charles "Buddy" Portis et réjouir les amateurs de Hunter S Thompson, Jim Dodge, James Crumley, Elmore Leonard...

Guy Dupree se ha saltado la condicional y se ha largado con la mujer, el fusil, la American Express y el Ford Torino de Ray Midge. A cambio, le ha dejado un Buick Special V-6 del 63 que se cae a trozos, además de la cornamenta y la cara de imbécil. A Midge no le gusta salir, ni bailar, ni confraternizar con la gente. Tiene veintiséis años, vive de papá y está más que orgulloso de su colección de armas y su biblioteca de historia militar. Cuando le llegan las facturas de la tarjeta de crédito, localiza a los tortolitos. Ahora no le va a quedar más remedio que mover el culo.