Jay Jennings

Your reminder that Charles Portis published only one short humor piece there and that likely only because his friend Bill Whitworth was an editor. He somehow managed to get himself into the Library of American without having won any prizes. Keep writing what you need to write…

Thank you!

“…by end of business…” says it all.

and, of course, sold the book, which isn’t as much this year’s writing but does portend some level of future writing bsky.app/profile/oliv...

Nicely put. Even without the True Grit best-sellerdom and movie money, he would have gone his own way.

So true. He asked me about using a word processor one time, saying, “How do you consider other options when you can’t write them between the lines?” The collection also has some great letters to him from Bill Whitworth, Bob Gottlieb and Lynn Nesbit.

The final paragraph from an early draft of Charles Portis's novel TRUE GRIT. Between the typed lines, he's exploring alternate phrasings in pen. He still hasn't decided on whether he should keep the name LaBoeuf or change it to Beaufort. His pen wasn't working at first, so he primed it with some circular squiggles. He's also calculating the ages of the characters and as a result changes LaBoeuf's age from "eighties" to "seventies."

#BOTD in 1933: Charles Portis. Here's the final paragraph from an early draft of TRUE GRIT. (His papers are in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State U.) He's still working out the final lines but what strikes me is how much of this draft resembles the final book. A master from the start.

The book I would give anyone — a ten-year-old boy, an eighty-year-old woman, a neighbor, a coworker, a loved one — is True Grit by Charles Portis.

And the gift I would give anyone is a knife. Kitchen, steak, pocket, utility, multi-tool, etc. You can always use another knife.

How about you?

"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.

Brenner, by Hermann Berger. One of the most bonkers books, in the best way, I’ve ever read but no one I know has read it.

The illustrator of the great cover is Dagmar Frinta. www.dfrinta.com

I remember the bartender at Town Pump asking him, “Charlie, are you going to put me in your next book?” And he replied “You don’t want to be in that one.” That would be Gringos, which came out in 1991.

The cover of the first edition of the novel Masters of Atlantis, depicting an art deco style illustration of two men in hats, coats and ties standing behind a conical hat called a “poma” in the book.

The signature of Charles Portis under which he has written the date “Oct 22 1985” and the location “Little Rock”

I’m late on the exact anniversary but 40 years ago on Oct 22 I first met Charles Portis in person at the Town Pump for lunch after buying his just-published Masters of Atlantis at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock. Both places are still around and I think of him and miss him every time I visit one.

“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”

Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻

Can recite whole sides of Firesign Theatre albums…

Come hear Sam Tanenhaus talk about his magisterial new book on William F. Buckley at the Clinton Center in Little Rock @clintonfoundation.bsky.social
Tuesday at 6pm.

🍿

Another one that didn’t turn out like you wanted but have you read The Game, George Howe Colt’s book about 1968 Harvard-Yale? I really liked it.

Frank’s battlefield: On James McWilliams’ Frank Stanford biography - Arkansas Times Frank Stanford, who killed himself at age 29, died far too young. Thanks to writer James McWilliams, the legendary Arkansas poet's short but colorful life is now documented in a monumental biography.

Thanks for the opportunity. Took some time to wrestle with this one. arktimes.com/rock-candy/2...

Wow. My desert island book. I wrote a paper in college on Sterne’s use of dashes.

Salad made by a robot. Yum.

“Sweetgreen has been focusing on automation after it bought Spyce, a Boston restaurant company that developed robotic kitchen and conveyor belt technology, in 2021.”

By Foote and the editor. I’ve also always been a Foote fan.

Local Goodwill find for $1.99.

James McMurtry — Wheels Off with Rhett Miller James McMurtry, hailed as one of our greatest living songwriters, joins Rhett for a candid conversation about the craft of songwriting, life on the road, and the realities of sustaining a career in music. Known for his sharp storytelling and uncompromising perspective, McMurtry opens up about his process, from finding inspiration in small details to shaping lyrics around the musicality of the human voice. They discuss the making of his latest record, Black Dog and the Wandering Boy (New West Records), working with producer Don Dixon, and how the touring life remains both a necessity and a joy. McMurtry reflects on influences like Kris Kristofferson, lessons from decades in the business, and why persistence and endurance matter more than inspiration. Follow James: jamesmcmurtry.com Follow Rhett @rhettmiller Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Music by Old 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts,…

Highly recommend this McMurtry interview with Rhett Miller. overcast.fm/+ABC6iCuCzPo

Those Portables were valuable to me as a young student to grasp a sense of an entire oeuvre relatively quickly. The Portables Nabokov and Faulkner, especially.

Will check this out! I spent a junior year abroad in Leeds when Gang of Four and Mekons were there. Didn’t know them but I’m sure we were all at the Elvis Costello show at Leeds Refectory.

One of my most Portis moments was having him give my motorcycle a jump with his good jumper cables.

Motel Life, Lower Reaches MOTEL #1 Back when Roger Miller was King of the Road, in the 1960s, he sang of rooms to let …

Chaser; a great Charles Portis piece on life on the open road:
oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...

A Treacherous Country wins BBFF Screenplay Competition - FilmInk Submissions to the Byron Bay International Film Festival’s 2025 Screenplay Competition came from around the world - from Turkey to Canada - with a particularly strong showing from the United States.

Some news: My screenplay adapted from Kate Kruimink's historical novel A Treacherous Country has won the top prize at the Byron Bay Film Festival in Australia. I'm gobsmacked. www.filmink.com.au/public-notic...

As a former Vanderbilt walk-on football player (admittedly, for only about six weeks), I never thought I’d live long enough to see the Commodores in the Top 10.