True Grit

Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross has got grit.

This book was recommended to me by my firefighter brother, who often reads what I call “he-man” books. The titles always have words like mutiny, bullets, gangsters, firestorm, etc. So, when he suggested I read this book, I had my reservations. (In fairness, the books he recommends consistently end up on my list of all-time favorites–I guess that’s what I get for pre-judging!) In any case, over the years, I have learned the one thing we both love in a protagonist–and now I have a name for it–is grit. I can’t recommend this book… show more.

One of my all-time favorites, both heartrending and humorous and a must read.

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, a determined and tenacious young girl seeking justice for her father's murder. She hires the relentless U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to help her track down the killer.

Readers will love this book for its gripping narrative, vivid characters, and Mattie's unwavering resolve and courage, which challenges traditional gender roles in the Wild West.

Is there a more appealing narrator in all of modern fiction than fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross, who sets out to avenge the death of her father in the company of U.S. Marshal Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn, for whom “fear don’t enter into his thinking”?

Although most people probably know Mattie’s adventures from the two feature films made from the book, the Western, told in simple, comically impassive prose, is a literary gem.

I loved being in Mattie’s head as she, Cogburn, and a Texas ranger known only as LeBoeuf tussle on their journey into Indian Territory to capture outlaw Tom Chaney, the… show more.

I discovered True Grit in my twenties, three years after my father’s death. I’d been living on my own for a year and was recovering from depression. Life was forcing me to learn resourcefulness, and this book came to me at the right time. I remember reading it with delight, wishing I’d known about it before. Mattie Ross’ pragmatic voice as she describes her father’s murder and her quest to avenge his blood resonated with me, not because we are alike, but because I needed a lesson in toughness. But beyond all this, I needed a good laugh, and True… show more.

This is one of those classic books you remember for a long time after reading. Great characters and a great story. I especially enjoyed Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn’s interactions, and appreciated the young female protagonist.  Mattie is one of the bravest kids I’ve ever run across in literature. 

I watched the 2010 remake of this movie starring Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld and just had to read the book. Farmgirl Mattie Ross teams up with a hired gun, seeking someone with “true grit” to help her avenge her father’s murder. At turns comedic and somber, Mattie was everything I wanted my main character to be—gutsy, stubborn, and pragmatic, but also vulnerable and prone to be led astray by her own naivete.

After my first book came out, I was interviewed by a local reporter. When he asked what influenced me to write western fiction, I told him I really didn’t know. Why had I been compelled to write a story told by an old man about his younger days spent chasing those who murdered his brother? Then, I remembered, at eleven years old, I had read True Grit. A tale of revenge; a teen-aged girl, strong-willed, saddled up with an old, one-eyed codger of a US marshal hellbent on finding her father’s killer, as told through the voice of an… show more.

Buddies in the Old West are not a male-only club. Nor do they need to be age similar. True Grit proves both of these points. Rooster Cogburn is an aging U.S. Marshal hired by Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl. Mattie insists Rooster finds her father’s murderers. Two more different characters are hard to imagine, but the trail melds the two into a Yin and Yang dual that can accomplish the impossible.

Who can’t love the main character Mattie Ross? Young Mattie has one of the best voices in fiction. She’s just fourteen when a coward shoots her dad dead and takes his horse and $150. Mattie’s not going to let that go unpunished. She leaves home to take revenge, teams up with tough US Marshal Rooster Cogburn, and pursues the killer into Indian Territory. Mattie should be way in over her head and is. But Mattie’s always the boss. Charles Portis tells the headstrong Mattie’s quest in an engaging first-person style and fills the story with great historical details. 

Though it was published back in 1952, True Grit features one of my all-time favorite fierce heroines, Mattie Ross. Though she’s only fourteen, Mattie sets off on a journey through the old west to avenge the death of her father. She’s smart, no-nonsense, incredibly courageous, and truly the embodiment of grit. Bonus tip: the audiobook is extraordinary, narrated by bestselling author Donna Tartt, and no exaggeration, I listened to it twice in a row.