He is persuaded by con man Grady Fring (the first of several such characters created by Portis) to transport two automobiles to New York City. Set sometime from 1959 through 1961, the novel revolves around Norwood Pratt, a young, naïve ex-Marine living in Ralph, Texas. In his first novel, Norwood (1966), he showed his preference for travel narratives with deadpan dialogue, combined with amusing observations on American culture. Portis next returned to Arkansas and began writing fiction full-time. After serving as the London bureau chief of the New York Herald Tribune, he left journalism in 1964. His work led him to return to the South frequently to cover civil rights stories during the early 1960s. He then moved to New York City, where he worked for four years at the New York Herald Tribune. After Portis graduated, he worked for various newspapers as a reporter, including the Memphis Commercial Appeal and almost two years at the Arkansas Gazette, for which he wrote the "Our Town" column. One of his tasks was to redact the colorful reporting of "lady stringers" in the Ozarks, a task credited as a source for the vivid voice that he created years later for his character Mattie Ross in True Grit.
Portis began writing in college, for both the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville student newspaper, Arkansas Traveler, and the Northwest Arkansas Times. He graduated with a degree in journalism in 1958. After receiving his discharge in 1955, he enrolled in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Marine Corps and reached the rank of sergeant. ĭuring the Korean War, Portis enlisted in the U.S. He was raised and educated in various towns in southern Arkansas, including Hamburg and Mount Holly. Early life Ĭharles Portis was born in 1933 in El Dorado, Arkansas, the son of Alice (Waddell) and Samuel Palmer Portis. Portis has been described as "one of the most inventively comic writers of western fiction". In the introduction editor Jay Jennings observes,"Charles Portis is now recognized as a singular American genius, a writer whose deadpan style, picaresque plots, and unforgettable characters have drawn a passionate following among readers and writers." In 2023 The Library of America published his Collected Works. Another film adaptation of True Grit was released in 2010.
True Grit also inspired a film sequel and a made-for-TV movie sequel. Both Norwood and True Grit were adapted as films, released in 19, respectively. Charles McColl Portis (Decem– February 17, 2020) was an American author best known for his novels Norwood (1966) and the classic Western True Grit (1968).
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