WRITER

Charles Portis

1933 - 2020

Charles Portis

Charles McColl Portis (December 28, 1933 – February 17, 2020) was an American author best known for his novels Norwood (1966) and the classic Western True Grit (1968). Both Norwood and True Grit were adapted as films, released in 1970 and 1969, respectively. True Grit also inspired a film sequel and a made-for-TV movie sequel. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Charles Portis has received more than 450,736 page views. His biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 16 in 2019). Charles Portis is the 6,813th most popular writer (down from 6,251st in 2019), the 14,220th most popular biography from United States (down from 14,052nd in 2019) and the 1,030th most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

450k
Page Views (PV)
37.74
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
18
Languages Editions (L)
1.57
Effective Languages (L*)
3.64
Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

True Grit

Death, Teenage girls, Western fiction

True Grit is Charles Portis' most famous novel--first published in 1968. It tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash money. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father's blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself. From a writer of true cult status, this is an American classic through and through.

1968

True grit

Outlaws, Death, Teenage girls

There is no knowing what lies in a mans heart. On a trip to buy ponies, Frank Ross is killed by one of his own workers. Tom Chaney shoots him down in the street for a horse, 150 cash, and two Californian gold pieces. Rosss unusually mature and single minded fourteen year old daughter Mattie travels to claim his body, and finds that the authorities are doing nothing to find Chaney. Then she hears of Rooster - a man, she is told, who has grit - and convinces him to join her in a quest into dark, dangerous Indian territory to hunt Chaney down and avenge her father's murder.

1968

Norwood

Fiction, Young men, Fiction, general

1966

The Dog of the South

Fiction, Eccentrics and eccentricities, Married people

Ray Midge is befuddled when his wife takes off with his car, his money, and her ex-husband. When credit card statements start rolling in, he takes off to find them (in the ex-husband's clunker). His search takes him across the southern United States and into Mexico, where he meets a cast of eccentric characters. Through it all, Ray maintains a sense of humor without a sense of revenge--he justs wants what is rightfully his.

1979

Masters of Atlantis

Atlantis, Fiction, Secret societies

Masters of Atlantis is a cock-eyed journey into an America of misfits and con-men, oddballs, and innocents. 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.

1985

Gringos

Americans, Fiction, Americans -- Mexico -- Fiction

1991

Page views of Charles Portis by language

Over the past year Charles Portis has had the most page views in the English wikipedia edition with 58,253 views, followed by French (2,933), and German (1,296). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Simple English (78.93%), Serbian (70.10%), and Finnish (69.53%)