Finished Su 3/20/11
Mattie Ross, a fourteen year-old-girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, sets out to avenge the murder of her father in the wild and savage Oklahoma Territory of the late 1870's. Mattie is the living personification of, "plucky", and, without much trouble, she finagles the assistance of an aging federal marshal, Rooster Cogburn, and a Texas Ranger by the name of La Boeuf to chase down pack of bad guys. The novel is written in the first person, and Mattie tells the tale over sixty years later as an old and infirmed woman, yet she still retains every bit of her feisty spirit. This comedic novel is a classic of the Cowboy Genre, and the quaint, yet astute nineteenth century dialog is second to none. At the end of the book, you feel you have participated in an examination of a very specific period of America's history. Charles Portis is truly an overlooked American writer.
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