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February 17, 2020 3:24 PM Subscribe
Charles Portis, an Arkansas native best known for his 1968 novel True Grit, died on Monday at a Little Rock hospice facility. He was 86. [Arkansas Online]
Charles Portis, the publicity-shy author of “True Grit” and a short list of other novels that drew a cult following and accolades as the work of possibly the nation’s best unknown writer, died on Monday at a hospice in Little Rock, Ark. He was 86. [NYT]
Charles Portis, the Arkansas novelist best known for his enduring best-seller True Grit, died this morning after several years of failing health. He was 86. [Arkansas Times]
Pure Nitro: 40 Years of Charles Portis’s Comic Masterpiece ‘The Dog of the South’ [The Ringer]
Charles Portis, the publicity-shy author of “True Grit” and a short list of other novels that drew a cult following and accolades as the work of possibly the nation’s best unknown writer, died on Monday at a hospice in Little Rock, Ark. He was 86. [NYT]
Charles Portis, the Arkansas novelist best known for his enduring best-seller True Grit, died this morning after several years of failing health. He was 86. [Arkansas Times]
Pure Nitro: 40 Years of Charles Portis’s Comic Masterpiece ‘The Dog of the South’ [The Ringer]
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posted by seasparrow at 3:50 PM on February 17, 2020
posted by seasparrow at 3:50 PM on February 17, 2020
“MR.GOUDY: I believe you testified that you backed away from Aaron Wharton.
MR.COGBURN: That is right.
MR.GOUDY: You were backing away?
MR.COGBURN: Yes sir. He had that ax raised.
MR.GOUDY: Which direction were you going?
MR.COGBURN: I always go backwards when I am backing up.”
― Charles Portis, True Grit
posted by valkane at 4:11 PM on February 17, 2020 [5 favorites]
MR.COGBURN: That is right.
MR.GOUDY: You were backing away?
MR.COGBURN: Yes sir. He had that ax raised.
MR.GOUDY: Which direction were you going?
MR.COGBURN: I always go backwards when I am backing up.”
― Charles Portis, True Grit
posted by valkane at 4:11 PM on February 17, 2020 [5 favorites]
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I love True Grit. It might be best novel I've ever read in a single sitting - a long winter's day sitting in a freezing ski lodge during my kid's class ski trip outside Dubuque, Iowa.
The famous negotiation scene is as brilliant on the page as it is the Coen brothers' movie.
posted by Caxton1476 at 4:26 PM on February 17, 2020 [8 favorites]
I love True Grit. It might be best novel I've ever read in a single sitting - a long winter's day sitting in a freezing ski lodge during my kid's class ski trip outside Dubuque, Iowa.
The famous negotiation scene is as brilliant on the page as it is the Coen brothers' movie.
posted by Caxton1476 at 4:26 PM on February 17, 2020 [8 favorites]
He had a way with words.
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posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:44 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:44 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
"The Dog of the South" is brilliant and oh, so funny. Few writers can create peculiar and eccentric characters as well as Portis did.
posted by Agave at 4:46 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Agave at 4:46 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
If ever there was a writer destined to be adapted by the Coen brothers, it was him. Cracking good dialogue. RIP.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:19 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:19 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I DO NOT DEAL IN HYPOTHETICALS; THE WORLD AS IT IS IS VEXING ENOUGH
posted by praemunire at 6:41 PM on February 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 6:41 PM on February 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
I just read Masters of Atlantis a couple of months ago and it’s great gentle satire about the lure of secret knowledge and the way human foibles overcome organizations. Really great ... now I need to read True Grit.
posted by freecellwizard at 7:04 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by freecellwizard at 7:04 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Should I read them in any particular order, or just as soon as I can get my hands on them?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:06 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:06 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you read Combinations of Jacksons it'll clue you in to whether or not you'll enjoy his style.
posted by komara at 9:07 PM on February 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by komara at 9:07 PM on February 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm about due for my periodic reread of True Grit. I came to the book through the Coen Brothers and honestly I wasn't ready for it till my forties anyway.
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posted by Sheydem-tants at 2:30 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Sheydem-tants at 2:30 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Norwood is one of my favorite books.
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posted by thivaia at 3:35 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by thivaia at 3:35 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
It was amazing to me as a kid reading True Grit as serialized in The Saturday Evening Post. Most of the time the fiction there was adult-over-my-head or nostalgic for WWII, things like that. But True Grit locked me in, nothing threw me, and it had this undertow of being what I would call now "counter-nostalgia".
posted by Chitownfats at 3:37 AM on February 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Chitownfats at 3:37 AM on February 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:23 AM on February 18, 2020
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:23 AM on February 18, 2020
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posted by Obscure Reference at 9:55 AM on February 18, 2020
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:55 AM on February 18, 2020
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posted by pt68 at 3:32 PM on February 17, 2020