On a map, Arkansas has a slightly tapered shape. It’s a lopsided trapezoidal figure turned on its head. A chipped teacup. But maybe the best way to define it is as a vortex. That’s what people around here say: When you think you’re leaving this state, the line you’re following isn’t straight at all but is more like a gently bowing curve leading you right back to where you started. Native son and author Charles McColl Portis described it in terms of “escape velocity.”