Escape Velocity

A varied collection of writing from Charles Portis, a prolific essayist, travel writer, newspaper reporter, and “America’s least known great American novelist,” (New York Times Book Review)

Collected here in Escape Velocity, edited by Jay Jennings, is Charles Portis’s “miscellany” –– journalism, short fiction, memoir, and even the play Delray’s New Moon, published for the first time in this volume. Portis covers topics as varied as the civil rights movement, road tripping in Baja, and Elvis’s visits to his aging mother for publications such as the New York HeraldTribune and Saturday Evening Post.

Fans of Portis’s droll Southern humor and quirky characters will be thrilled at this addition to his library, and those not yet familiar with his work will find a great introduction to him here. Also included are tributes by accomplished authors including Donna Tartt and Ron Rosenbaum.