His brief memoir, “Combinations of Jacksons” (1999)-its title misquoting Lincoln’s “Proclamation on State Militia” with an inside joke-never gets out of his boyhood, though it does present portraits of his forebears, including his maternal grandfather and paternal great-grandfather, both of whom fought for the Confederacy.īorn and raised in southern Arkansas, Portis was very much a man of the South himself, notably in his acerbic view of Northerners and their idea of the region. Though not a recluse, Portis did shun interviews, presenting the sort of mystery that surrounds many of his own characters. Over the decades he has gained devotees of almost evangelical fervor, but except for “True Grit,” his books never entered the mainstream-and even that one was out of print for years. Powers of the book by Charles Portis titled “Charles Portis: Collected Works”:Ĭharles Portis (1933-2020), author of five novels and some occasional pieces, is best known, if known at all, as the author of “True Grit” (1968), his second novel and the basis for two successful movies.
From a Wall Street Journal review by Katherine A.
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