True Grit

Bookseller recommendation

“Finally, I’ve succeeded in consuming the holy grail of True Grit content with the Donna Tartt-narrated audiobook! I’d seen both film renditions - the 1968 movie starring John Wayne and the Coen brothers’ 2010 interpretation - which engaged me at a very young age in a way other Westerns did not. Now, after listening to Tartt’s essay on the Charles Portis classic novel that rounds out this audiobook, I found it fascinating to learn about the ways the films flattened out the text and contributed to its near-death in literary circles. The book is a relic of its time in many ways, so it does demand some critical reading; I wasn’t approaching this as an earnest adventure story, but more as a picture of a literary era. Portis did intend the story to be partially satirical of the American West, and that wry cleverness propelled my listening. Tartt’s narration brought to life the main character Mattie Ross, the true star of the story in my eyes, flaunting the full glory of her unintentional dry wit and her own - forgive the pun - true grit.”

— Wulfe • Raven Book Store