Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany, Paperback

Though Charles Portis is best known for his fiction writing, he is also a prolific essayist, travel writer, and newspaper reporter. Collected here in ``Escape Velocity,`` edited by Jay Jennings, is his ``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 Herald Tribune`` and ``Saturday Evening Post.`` Fans of Portis s droll Southern humor and quirky characters will be thrilled at this new 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.