There can’t be enough such appreciations of True Grit–the brilliant novel by the one-of-a-kind Charles Portis, not the overrated John Wayne vehicle. (An even better appreciation, by Donna Tartt, serves as afterword to the book’s most recent edition.) True Grit is many things, but it’s also a short, funny, heartbreaking page-turner. And one of the best books I’ve read in the past five years, if you’re looking for a recommendation.