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The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers
As seen on the Today Show : This true story of an unforgettable mother, her devoted daughter, and their life in the Detroit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s highlights "the outstanding humanity of black America" (James McBride).
In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee, borrowed $100 from her brother to run a numbers racket out of her home. That woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis's mother.
Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, and granddaughter of slaves, Fannie ran her numbers business for thirty-four years, doing what it took to survive in a legitimate business that just happened to be illegal. She created a loving, joyful home, sent her children to the best schools, bought them the best clothes, mothered them to the highest standard, and when the tragedy of urban life struck, soldiered on with her stated "Dying is easy. Living takes guts."
A daughter's moving homage to an extraordinary parent, The World According to Fannie Davis is also the suspenseful, unforgettable story about the lengths to which a mother will go to "make a way out of no way" and provide a prosperous life for her family -- and how those sacrifices resonate over time.
In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee, borrowed $100 from her brother to run a numbers racket out of her home. That woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis's mother.
Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, and granddaughter of slaves, Fannie ran her numbers business for thirty-four years, doing what it took to survive in a legitimate business that just happened to be illegal. She created a loving, joyful home, sent her children to the best schools, bought them the best clothes, mothered them to the highest standard, and when the tragedy of urban life struck, soldiered on with her stated "Dying is easy. Living takes guts."
A daughter's moving homage to an extraordinary parent, The World According to Fannie Davis is also the suspenseful, unforgettable story about the lengths to which a mother will go to "make a way out of no way" and provide a prosperous life for her family -- and how those sacrifices resonate over time.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2019
348 people are currently reading
7325 people want to read
About the author
Bridgett M. Davis
4 books180 followersBridgett M. Davis is an author, filmmaker, curator and teacher.
Davis' memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life In The Detroit Numbers is a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, and named a Best Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews, BuzzFeed, NBC News and Parade Magazine.
Davis is the author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow and Shifting Through Neutral, shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Award.
As a professor at CUNY’s Baruch College, she teaches creative, film and narrative writing.
Davis is co-founder and curator for Words@Weeksville, a monthly reading series held at Weeksville Heritage Center in Central Brooklyn.
She is also writer/director of the critically acclaimed, award-winning feature film Naked Acts. The film and its elements are now housed in the permanent collection of Indiana University’s distinguished Black Film Center/Archive.
A graduate of Spelman College and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Davis’ essays have recently appeared in The New York Times, The Millions, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, Women’s Review of Books, The Los Angeles Times, and LitHub.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
September 29, 2019
With my busy holiday season upon me, I have been reading memoirs written by Americans of all stripes to help ease the stress of this hectic time. Each person piece by piece reveals the individualism of what makes the United States a great country. While I may not have time to write formal reviews for all of the memoirs and light reading I do over the next month, Bridgett Davis’ story of her mother Fannie Mae Drumweather Davis Robinson necessitates a formal write up. Fannie Davis’ story is one of achieving her personal American Dream in order to provide a better life for her children.
Baruch College professor Bridgett Davis has written a stirring tribute to her mother Fannie Davis that is a nine year labor of love. Fannie grew up in segregated Nashville but played a hunch- her first big hit- and left for the north, for Detroit as part of the Great Migration in hopes that her children would live a better life than previous generations of African Americans denied a piece of the American dream. Fannie found most doors closed to her as an African American woman in 1950s-60s Detroit so went to work in the numbers game. This illegal profession supported her family and friends for thirty five years. While not officially legal, the job allowed Fannie to keep her own hours as her own boss and always be home for her children and grandchildren. One anecdote that stands out is when Bridgett was in first grade, and her teacher asked how many pairs of shoes she owned because how could a working class African American family afford more than one pair per child. Fannie, insulted, takes Bridgett to Dillard’s to purchase a pair of yellow patent leather shoes and tells her daughter to have the teacher mind her own business. While not a member of the upwardly mobile African American society, Fannie dreamed big, kept impeccable style, and always appeared like a million dollars.
By telling her mother’s story, Bridgett pays homage to one of two women who ran numbers in a male dominated enterprise. The numbers had been controlled by Detroit’s mafia for decades but the Black community enjoyed playing the illegal game and kept as much of the pot in their neighborhood as possible. Fannie was one of few women who broke into this male dominated sector of society, but she radiated such an aura of luck, that customers played their numbers with her for decades. Fannie Davis was a pillar of Detroit’s black community for many years, assisting extended family and friends and her local NAACP chapter financially whenever possible. While her family had to keep quiet about her profession, Fannie was a rock for many during a turbulent time in Detroit’s and America’s history. Bridgett had to keep the secret buried inside of her for many years, and, as the baby of the family, at times secret keeping was difficult. Fannie sensed this as Bridgett entered adolescence and bought her a copy of Louise Meriwether’s My Daddy Was a Numbers Runner. In Meriwether, Bridgett found a kindred spirit and saw her mother’s line of work validated, keeping her spirit buoyed for many years afterward.
The numbers game kept her family afloat, and Bridgett Davis writes her mother’s story with dignity and grace. All people interviewed for this book had nothing but glowing memories about Fannie Davis, a one of a kind jewel of their community. The World According to Fannie Davis is another in a long line of memoirs of extraordinary, everyday Americans that I have read this year that provide an inner look at the fabric of this country.
4 stars
Baruch College professor Bridgett Davis has written a stirring tribute to her mother Fannie Davis that is a nine year labor of love. Fannie grew up in segregated Nashville but played a hunch- her first big hit- and left for the north, for Detroit as part of the Great Migration in hopes that her children would live a better life than previous generations of African Americans denied a piece of the American dream. Fannie found most doors closed to her as an African American woman in 1950s-60s Detroit so went to work in the numbers game. This illegal profession supported her family and friends for thirty five years. While not officially legal, the job allowed Fannie to keep her own hours as her own boss and always be home for her children and grandchildren. One anecdote that stands out is when Bridgett was in first grade, and her teacher asked how many pairs of shoes she owned because how could a working class African American family afford more than one pair per child. Fannie, insulted, takes Bridgett to Dillard’s to purchase a pair of yellow patent leather shoes and tells her daughter to have the teacher mind her own business. While not a member of the upwardly mobile African American society, Fannie dreamed big, kept impeccable style, and always appeared like a million dollars.
By telling her mother’s story, Bridgett pays homage to one of two women who ran numbers in a male dominated enterprise. The numbers had been controlled by Detroit’s mafia for decades but the Black community enjoyed playing the illegal game and kept as much of the pot in their neighborhood as possible. Fannie was one of few women who broke into this male dominated sector of society, but she radiated such an aura of luck, that customers played their numbers with her for decades. Fannie Davis was a pillar of Detroit’s black community for many years, assisting extended family and friends and her local NAACP chapter financially whenever possible. While her family had to keep quiet about her profession, Fannie was a rock for many during a turbulent time in Detroit’s and America’s history. Bridgett had to keep the secret buried inside of her for many years, and, as the baby of the family, at times secret keeping was difficult. Fannie sensed this as Bridgett entered adolescence and bought her a copy of Louise Meriwether’s My Daddy Was a Numbers Runner. In Meriwether, Bridgett found a kindred spirit and saw her mother’s line of work validated, keeping her spirit buoyed for many years afterward.
The numbers game kept her family afloat, and Bridgett Davis writes her mother’s story with dignity and grace. All people interviewed for this book had nothing but glowing memories about Fannie Davis, a one of a kind jewel of their community. The World According to Fannie Davis is another in a long line of memoirs of extraordinary, everyday Americans that I have read this year that provide an inner look at the fabric of this country.
4 stars
December 21, 2018
For the first time in my storied (in my mind) Goodreads career, I might not make my yearly Goodreads challenge and I have Bridgett Davis to blame. Well, it's actually partially my fault, I guess. I wasn't sure what to make of the cover of this book, which put me off because, honestly, her mother, Fannie Davis, looks a lot like my mother. So, I got the galley a while ago, kept looking at it -- and Fannie kept looking at me (even when I put other galleys on top of this galley, I felt like she was looking at me) and then finally, the time came when I couldn't resist any longer because I had to write about this beautiful book for a Kirkus feature that I'd actually pitched before it turned into a longer thing.
The World According to Fannie Davis is a beautiful blend of healthy, heartwarming memoir that centers a black motherhood that models uncomplicated unconditional love and deeply reported journalism reminiscent of Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns. Fannie Davis is a bad ass who will do anything for her daughters, but she is not a martyr. I will not ruin Davis' soaring cinematic opening for you, but know that Fannie likes -- well, loves -- nice things like all fine Americans. She runs numbers as an entrepreneur in the fine American tradition like many Americans have done since the precolonial days of America, after which people like Denmark Vesey used loot from lottery to help pay for him to get free. Black folks made something like the equivalent of $80 million a year running numbers and Fannie Davis was at the helm in Detroit. Bridgett Davis adored watching her mother model this unapologetic entrepreneurship and captures that reverence in sweet, sparkling and decadent detail that is so arresting and alive at a time when it feels like the Black working class is utterly invisible, nonexistent and without a long legacy in this country that the timing for this book couldn't be better.
I've been a long-time admirer of Bridgett Davis' writing, so I knew that I would connect to her memoir. What I didn't expect was that there would be entire passages -- whole pages, sentences, parts of her life -- that were the equivalent of Fannie Davis picking up a mirror and showing parts of my self back to me. What I love most, I think, is that I can think of almost no comparable figures of black women in nonfiction or memoir -- not black mothers, not black women -- who are in love with their lives as they are, who dare you to say something smart about them and their money without meeting some kind of violent end as a metaphor for what it must mean for black women to behave as white men always have. In this American classic, Fannie Davis is a triumph, not a tragedy, as is her daughter, and her daughter's gift for continuing her legacy for sharing her talents with the world.
The World According to Fannie Davis is a beautiful blend of healthy, heartwarming memoir that centers a black motherhood that models uncomplicated unconditional love and deeply reported journalism reminiscent of Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns. Fannie Davis is a bad ass who will do anything for her daughters, but she is not a martyr. I will not ruin Davis' soaring cinematic opening for you, but know that Fannie likes -- well, loves -- nice things like all fine Americans. She runs numbers as an entrepreneur in the fine American tradition like many Americans have done since the precolonial days of America, after which people like Denmark Vesey used loot from lottery to help pay for him to get free. Black folks made something like the equivalent of $80 million a year running numbers and Fannie Davis was at the helm in Detroit. Bridgett Davis adored watching her mother model this unapologetic entrepreneurship and captures that reverence in sweet, sparkling and decadent detail that is so arresting and alive at a time when it feels like the Black working class is utterly invisible, nonexistent and without a long legacy in this country that the timing for this book couldn't be better.
I've been a long-time admirer of Bridgett Davis' writing, so I knew that I would connect to her memoir. What I didn't expect was that there would be entire passages -- whole pages, sentences, parts of her life -- that were the equivalent of Fannie Davis picking up a mirror and showing parts of my self back to me. What I love most, I think, is that I can think of almost no comparable figures of black women in nonfiction or memoir -- not black mothers, not black women -- who are in love with their lives as they are, who dare you to say something smart about them and their money without meeting some kind of violent end as a metaphor for what it must mean for black women to behave as white men always have. In this American classic, Fannie Davis is a triumph, not a tragedy, as is her daughter, and her daughter's gift for continuing her legacy for sharing her talents with the world.
February 2, 2019
What is luck? Is it something that comes to you in the form of a dream that gives you a winning three-digit number to bet on? Or do you make your own luck with hard work?
Fannie Davis and her husband moved to Detroit from Nashville in 1955 during the Great Migration. Her husband had intermittent work in the auto factories, but that did not provide the kind of income that would catapult them into the middle class. Fannie wanted to be a stay-at-home mother for her five children and had an amazing head for numbers. So—she launched her own numbers business out of necessity. The result was a successful enterprise that not only provided well for her family, it also provided generational wealth for her children.
This memoir is a tribute to Fannie who ran an illegal business out of her home in a city that discriminated against the black community in a myriad of ways. Fannie was a force-of-nature in a business that was dominated by men and often, criminal enterprises. Her business provided the funds to allow the author to attend Spelman and Columbia.
I learned a lot about what it takes to be a numbers bookie and how Michigan’s adoption of the Lottery affected the small-time bookies. But, I also learned about the large, blue-collar black community in Detroit and how the state government, the loss of factory jobs, and ‘white flight’ undermined its stability over time. Highly recommend.
Fannie Davis and her husband moved to Detroit from Nashville in 1955 during the Great Migration. Her husband had intermittent work in the auto factories, but that did not provide the kind of income that would catapult them into the middle class. Fannie wanted to be a stay-at-home mother for her five children and had an amazing head for numbers. So—she launched her own numbers business out of necessity. The result was a successful enterprise that not only provided well for her family, it also provided generational wealth for her children.
This memoir is a tribute to Fannie who ran an illegal business out of her home in a city that discriminated against the black community in a myriad of ways. Fannie was a force-of-nature in a business that was dominated by men and often, criminal enterprises. Her business provided the funds to allow the author to attend Spelman and Columbia.
I learned a lot about what it takes to be a numbers bookie and how Michigan’s adoption of the Lottery affected the small-time bookies. But, I also learned about the large, blue-collar black community in Detroit and how the state government, the loss of factory jobs, and ‘white flight’ undermined its stability over time. Highly recommend.
January 11, 2019
I don't gamble. I don't buy raffle tickets or lottery tickets or visit the casinos. To me, it's throwing money away. I harbor no dreams of "hitting it big." I don't find it intriguing and it doesn't sound like fun. Then, I'm not motivated by money, although I never had much either.
That made me standoffish about Bridgett M. Davis' memoir about her mother who for 34 years was a numbers runner working out of her Detroit home. But...it's Detroit...and I had to at least take a look at this book.
The book is a paen to Fannie Davis who used her wits and charisma--and a lot of hard work--to ensure that her children had a comfortable home and a good life.
The Davis family had moved to Detroit for the same reason as my family did: the dream of a job in the auto industry. Davis loved her father, but with frail health no regular work, he was unable to support his family.
Fannie didn't want her kids growing up in a vermin-ridden slum house. So, Davis's mom had a choice: work in the home of a white person, for little pay, and away from her own family all day, or get creative.
She got creative. And built a business.
This memoir offers a good understanding of Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s, filled with specifics and local color. One learns the history of the numbers in the African American community and how it works.
Davis talks about the secretiveness about her mom's work, how the legal lottery impacted the numbers, and her desire to get away from Detroit for college and work.
Above all, Fannie Davis shines as her daughter paints a larger-than-life image of her mom.
I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
That made me standoffish about Bridgett M. Davis' memoir about her mother who for 34 years was a numbers runner working out of her Detroit home. But...it's Detroit...and I had to at least take a look at this book.
The book is a paen to Fannie Davis who used her wits and charisma--and a lot of hard work--to ensure that her children had a comfortable home and a good life.
The Davis family had moved to Detroit for the same reason as my family did: the dream of a job in the auto industry. Davis loved her father, but with frail health no regular work, he was unable to support his family.
Fannie didn't want her kids growing up in a vermin-ridden slum house. So, Davis's mom had a choice: work in the home of a white person, for little pay, and away from her own family all day, or get creative.
She got creative. And built a business.
This memoir offers a good understanding of Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s, filled with specifics and local color. One learns the history of the numbers in the African American community and how it works.
Davis talks about the secretiveness about her mom's work, how the legal lottery impacted the numbers, and her desire to get away from Detroit for college and work.
Above all, Fannie Davis shines as her daughter paints a larger-than-life image of her mom.
I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
March 8, 2019
What a surprise this book was. It's about the author's mother, who ran a numbers game in Detroit from the 1960s through the 1980s. She did very well and was able to give her family a good middle class life. But it came at a cost -- the family had to keep the secret, since numbers games were illegal (unless the government sanctioned them, as happened when the state lotteries got going in the 1970s). I enjoyed the book more than I would have expected, and found Fannie to be a real character as well as an impressive businesswoman.
February 17, 2019
In some ways I loved this book because it did viscerally remind me what it was like growing up in Detroit (and environs) in the late 70's. But Davis doesn't really tell us that much about her mother's life, and even less about the numbers. It's not that it isn't well researched, it just somehow seems superficial. Maybe it's the problem we all have in really knowing our parents, but I was disappointed that we never really emotional connect with Fannie Davis.
March 17, 2019
What a boring book! And I thought it would be so interesting! That's not to say that the story wasn't interesting, or that Davis' family did not suffer tremendously, it's that the writing wasn't compelling, told in a flat, characterless tone.
Fannie Davis runs an underground numbers business in Detroit for 30 years, adapting to the changes in the industry - mob bosses, political influence, the advent of the state-run lottery - with deft business acumen, all while supporting children and grandchildren, a disabled husband, and out-of-luck neighbors. Hers is a true American story. Fighting through northern emigration, racist housing policies, family tragedy, disease, a crumbling city, Fannie flourishes, her grit and determination the heady stuff of any rags-to-riches narrative.
So why two stars? For one, the writing is uneven. Too much time is dedicated to the superstitious choosing of numbers and how the business was run. Being neither a gambler nor a businessman, I found these passages rather dull. Second, I was hoping to learn more about Detroit, and although the riots, the failure of Coleman Young to reintegrate the city, and drug and crime epidemics of the '70 and '80s linger as context, the memoir largely neglects the city's role in the business. It's more the state that tries to undermine illegal numbers operations through legal lottery initiatives. Third, I thought the author's personal story took over, or there were too many threads working at once, when I would rather have followed Fannie's story.
In short, the book didn't do it for me, though it might for others.
Fannie Davis runs an underground numbers business in Detroit for 30 years, adapting to the changes in the industry - mob bosses, political influence, the advent of the state-run lottery - with deft business acumen, all while supporting children and grandchildren, a disabled husband, and out-of-luck neighbors. Hers is a true American story. Fighting through northern emigration, racist housing policies, family tragedy, disease, a crumbling city, Fannie flourishes, her grit and determination the heady stuff of any rags-to-riches narrative.
So why two stars? For one, the writing is uneven. Too much time is dedicated to the superstitious choosing of numbers and how the business was run. Being neither a gambler nor a businessman, I found these passages rather dull. Second, I was hoping to learn more about Detroit, and although the riots, the failure of Coleman Young to reintegrate the city, and drug and crime epidemics of the '70 and '80s linger as context, the memoir largely neglects the city's role in the business. It's more the state that tries to undermine illegal numbers operations through legal lottery initiatives. Third, I thought the author's personal story took over, or there were too many threads working at once, when I would rather have followed Fannie's story.
In short, the book didn't do it for me, though it might for others.
February 27, 2019
I raced through this fabulous memoir / tribute to the author’s mother and was often brought to tears. Combining both personal family stories and detailed history of the city of Detroit and the Numbers (an illegal lottery played by millions of people in the US for hundreds of years), this is an emotional and educational must-read.
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I can’t recommend this book highly enough, especially as the perfect follow-up to The Warmth of Other Suns. That book gave us the extensive story of The Great Migration, and this one focuses intensely on the story of one of those migrants - from Nashville to Detroit. If you want to read even more about the Numbers, please see the post on @reggiereads feed on Instagram from several weeks ago.
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I’m so happy I read this, and I can’t wait to read more reviews of it as more of you read it too!
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I can’t recommend this book highly enough, especially as the perfect follow-up to The Warmth of Other Suns. That book gave us the extensive story of The Great Migration, and this one focuses intensely on the story of one of those migrants - from Nashville to Detroit. If you want to read even more about the Numbers, please see the post on @reggiereads feed on Instagram from several weeks ago.
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I’m so happy I read this, and I can’t wait to read more reviews of it as more of you read it too!
July 27, 2019
A stunning tribute. Review to come.
November 29, 2018
Set in Detroit in the 1960s and ‘70s, Bridgett Davis shares the remarkable story of her mother’s life and legacy in the Detroit Numbers. Before the Michigan lottery, there was Numbers; a lucrative business in which players bet daily on three digit numbers in hopes of a big payout. One of two women taking bets in Detroit at the time, Fannie Davis was a force. Migrating from Nashville with her husband, Fannie was determined to make a way for her family despite segregation and poverty that plagued so many families. She worked hard to provide for her family and gave them the very best of the best. Although her profession was sworn to secrecy, Fannie never lived her life in the shadows. She ran her business successfully for over 35 years (with a few scares and dark times) with the help of her close family. I loved learning about the history of Detroit and The Numbers business. This book was so beautifully written.
January 30, 2019
In 1958, a woman named Fannie Davis borrowed $100 to run a Numbers business out of her apartment on Delaware St. in Detroit, Michigan. She wore many hats: bookie, banker, wife, mother of five, grandmother of one, and numbers runner. She ran her illegal-to-legitimate business for 34 years. This true story is an example of black woman making a way out of no way.
I don't know much about "the numbers" other than it being a natural part of my life. I thought everyone's family played and tracked the lottery. Yellow legal pads, wide-ruled composition notebooks, dog-eared pages and multi-colored ballpoint pens were common around the kitchen table. Making daily trips to the store to "put numbers in" was routine. But it wasn't until I read the advance copy of The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers that I realized this was a unique lifestyle.
The best person to write about her mother's life in the Detroit numbers was Bridgett M. Davis. As the youngest daughter, she saw the system up front and personal. She witnessed the highs and lows of street lottery life. And she explained it in a way that anyone could understand. While reading, I ran a couple passages by Chickadee, whom I consider a seasoned Numbers guru. Bridgett's telling of the Detroit Numbers is very accurate, I am told. Even the unfamiliar will be fascinated and educated about street numbers, legal lottery and racial justice.
Not only does My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers tell the true story of gambling, but also of a successful black businesswoman. Fannie Davis provided a good life for her family by taking others' bets on 3-digit numbers. She was part of the enterprise! Detroit Numbers was a black-owned and black-controlled business.
The World According to Fannie Davis would be perfect for a book club discussion. It makes me smile while reading a book that mentions city streets, neighborhoods, local trends and places. For example, Bridgett attended the same prestigious high school as I did (Cass Tech) and had a part-time job at Winkelmann's (my favorite department store back-in-the-day at Eastland Mall). Writing details about the setting builds rapport with the reader. Another reason I am looking forward to discussing it with a local bookheart over brunch. No doubt it will be an interesting chat.
Happy Pub Day, Bridgett M. Davis. The World According to Fannie Davis is available today. Totally recommendable!
Disclaimer: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.
LiteraryMarie
I don't know much about "the numbers" other than it being a natural part of my life. I thought everyone's family played and tracked the lottery. Yellow legal pads, wide-ruled composition notebooks, dog-eared pages and multi-colored ballpoint pens were common around the kitchen table. Making daily trips to the store to "put numbers in" was routine. But it wasn't until I read the advance copy of The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers that I realized this was a unique lifestyle.
The best person to write about her mother's life in the Detroit numbers was Bridgett M. Davis. As the youngest daughter, she saw the system up front and personal. She witnessed the highs and lows of street lottery life. And she explained it in a way that anyone could understand. While reading, I ran a couple passages by Chickadee, whom I consider a seasoned Numbers guru. Bridgett's telling of the Detroit Numbers is very accurate, I am told. Even the unfamiliar will be fascinated and educated about street numbers, legal lottery and racial justice.
Not only does My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers tell the true story of gambling, but also of a successful black businesswoman. Fannie Davis provided a good life for her family by taking others' bets on 3-digit numbers. She was part of the enterprise! Detroit Numbers was a black-owned and black-controlled business.
The World According to Fannie Davis would be perfect for a book club discussion. It makes me smile while reading a book that mentions city streets, neighborhoods, local trends and places. For example, Bridgett attended the same prestigious high school as I did (Cass Tech) and had a part-time job at Winkelmann's (my favorite department store back-in-the-day at Eastland Mall). Writing details about the setting builds rapport with the reader. Another reason I am looking forward to discussing it with a local bookheart over brunch. No doubt it will be an interesting chat.
Happy Pub Day, Bridgett M. Davis. The World According to Fannie Davis is available today. Totally recommendable!
Disclaimer: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.
LiteraryMarie
February 8, 2019
Bridgett Davis shares her precious, complicated relationship with her mom, and her mom's illegal yet prosperous career in the Detroit numbers. There's so much black history in this book. It also took me by surprise to see myself and my family in her words. This book brought me to tears a few times. Beautifully written.
March 2, 2019
Both a memoir of the author’s growing up and a biography of her mother, the book was especially meaningful for me, as I grew up within miles of Bridgett Davis’ family and in the same era.
For blacks pre-Fair Housing legislation, obtaining a mortgage was near impossible. One roadblock after another prevented hard working black families from achieving the security of a middle class existence. Fanny Davis refused to succumb to what was, decided how life should be for her family, and went on to achieve her vision by becoming a force in the underground economy of numbers running.
The book creates a vivid picture of Detroit urban life in the latter half of the 20th century, a woman’s fierce love and determination for herself and her family, and the fraught relationships between mothers and daughters regardless of skin color.
For blacks pre-Fair Housing legislation, obtaining a mortgage was near impossible. One roadblock after another prevented hard working black families from achieving the security of a middle class existence. Fanny Davis refused to succumb to what was, decided how life should be for her family, and went on to achieve her vision by becoming a force in the underground economy of numbers running.
The book creates a vivid picture of Detroit urban life in the latter half of the 20th century, a woman’s fierce love and determination for herself and her family, and the fraught relationships between mothers and daughters regardless of skin color.
October 31, 2019
More like 3.5 stars.
I love books that focus on niche cultural phenomenons wrapped up in the African American community. This book was also a love letter to Bridgett M. Davis' mother, which I found endearing and heartwarming. Lots of detailed specifics on the numbers got in the way of the meat of this story, but I really enjoy reading about Fannie, a woman who successfully took great care of her family and community by running the numbers illegally, a system that eventually became legal once the government saw how much money they could make and stepped in (so many similarities to the marijuana industry here).
Happy my book club was able to discuss this book with Davis, as her commentary added lots of color to the narrative. We also found out it will be a movie, which I'm hella excited about. Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s? All that Great Migration magic on the big or small screen? Oh, and Fannie's witty, no nonsense, but caring demeanor? Can't wait to see it.
Also made me wish I could play for numbers, but since it's no longer in business, I'm down for a few scratchers and the lotto.
My review doesn't do this book any justice. Check out Joshunda Sanders' review for more details on why you should add this to your TBR.
I love books that focus on niche cultural phenomenons wrapped up in the African American community. This book was also a love letter to Bridgett M. Davis' mother, which I found endearing and heartwarming. Lots of detailed specifics on the numbers got in the way of the meat of this story, but I really enjoy reading about Fannie, a woman who successfully took great care of her family and community by running the numbers illegally, a system that eventually became legal once the government saw how much money they could make and stepped in (so many similarities to the marijuana industry here).
Happy my book club was able to discuss this book with Davis, as her commentary added lots of color to the narrative. We also found out it will be a movie, which I'm hella excited about. Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s? All that Great Migration magic on the big or small screen? Oh, and Fannie's witty, no nonsense, but caring demeanor? Can't wait to see it.
Also made me wish I could play for numbers, but since it's no longer in business, I'm down for a few scratchers and the lotto.
My review doesn't do this book any justice. Check out Joshunda Sanders' review for more details on why you should add this to your TBR.
February 24, 2019
I first heard about this book at the October, 2018 Hachette Book Brunch.I loved the concept of the story, it involved Detroit, and the author's presentation intrigued me as she shared about her mother, the first black woman numbers runner in Detroit.
The book does not disappoint. It was a combination of familiar and new territory. I grew up in Toledo, in Detroit's shadow, so I was very familiar with places and things mentioned (WXYZ's afternoon movie, COBO Hall, Fairlane Mall and both the author and I worked at Winkleman's). The numbers game was new and fascinating territory.
Even though she lived it, Davis still researched and supplies notes and bibliography at the end of the book.
I'd recommend this as a unique, well-written, close to her heart depiction of her childhood and the many lessons she learned from her mother.
The book does not disappoint. It was a combination of familiar and new territory. I grew up in Toledo, in Detroit's shadow, so I was very familiar with places and things mentioned (WXYZ's afternoon movie, COBO Hall, Fairlane Mall and both the author and I worked at Winkleman's). The numbers game was new and fascinating territory.
Even though she lived it, Davis still researched and supplies notes and bibliography at the end of the book.
I'd recommend this as a unique, well-written, close to her heart depiction of her childhood and the many lessons she learned from her mother.
June 25, 2020
I really enjoyed this - part memoir, part story of the author’s mother, and part history of Detroit and the numbers game. I think my favorite thing about it was that it was ultimately a celebration of Fannie without any moralizing or judgment. The descriptions of the clothing everyone wore was also fantastic!
Want to read
November 28, 2020I interviewed Bridgett Davis for my podcast, and you can listen here: https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com/bri....
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February 17, 2019A moving (and historically informative) book, set largely in the 1960s and 1970s of the author's upbringing. In an author's note provided at the outset, Davis helps frame some of the discoveries/sources to come: "Because of the many years that have passed, and the ephemeral nature of the Numbers themselves, the physical record that remains of my mother's business is scant. But my memory of her work is not; it is vivid. To edify and enhance my own memory, I've also relied on the recollections and knowledge of my mother's sister and brother, my nephew and cousins, and childhood friends. I've joined these interviews with extensive research, my own earlier writings and diary entries, as well as family documents and personal papers kept in my mother's brass trunk—to reconstruct the world of my childhood and young adulthood as the youngest daughter of my mother, Fannie Drumwright Davis Robinson, who ran numbers in Detroit. This is her story. And mine."
February 19, 2019
Bridgett Davis opens this love letter to her mother with a hell of a story. When Bridgett's second grade teacher displayed suspicion about just how many pairs of shoes her pupil had, Fannie Davis very emphatically wasn't having it. I won't spoil what happened--you can probably catch the whole thing in the free sample on Amazon--but suffice it to say that the opening story serves two purposes: to get the reader on Fannie Davis's side, and to reassure the reader that one is in excellent story-telling hands with Bridgett Davis at the helm.
In 1958, Fannie Davis found herself in a tough spot. Her husband had been injured in a workplace accident that made it difficult for him to hold down a steady job, and they had five children still at home. So, Fannie "made a way out of no way": she started a side hustle running numbers in her community. The numbers turned out to be a good fit for Fannie, and she built a successful business that provided well for her family and community for the next 30 years.
Davis tells the story of her remarkable mother, a woman who was lucky and generous with her good fortune. Fannie used her modest wealth not only to buy nice things, but also to offer assistance to those in need in her community--the battered young wives who needed a place to stay, the niece whose parents weren't going to be able to make the next semester's tuition payments, childcare for the young couple without family nearby to help.
Davis's portrait of her mother borders on hagiography. Where Bridgett admits to her mother's human failings, it almost feels as if she's waving them away. She doesn't dwell on her mother's shortcomings. She came here to celebrate Fannie's life, and it's a beautiful tribute that any mother would be honored to read.
The Detroit Davis grew up in changed significantly over the 60s and 70s, and you get a little of that in the story. We get a little bit of education in the impact of redlining on black home-ownership and what space Numbers games occupied in the black community. But mostly, this is a small scale story of a young woman doing her best to take care of her family through the eyes of her youngest child. (Fanny Davis passed in 1992. Fanny was private, and her perspective is missing here.)
Fanny's story is an American story. The story of a woman who knew the world was indifferent (at best) to her health and welfare, and found a way forward regardless of any obstacles ahead. If there were any justice in the world, this would be optioned for a movie shortly.
In 1958, Fannie Davis found herself in a tough spot. Her husband had been injured in a workplace accident that made it difficult for him to hold down a steady job, and they had five children still at home. So, Fannie "made a way out of no way": she started a side hustle running numbers in her community. The numbers turned out to be a good fit for Fannie, and she built a successful business that provided well for her family and community for the next 30 years.
Davis tells the story of her remarkable mother, a woman who was lucky and generous with her good fortune. Fannie used her modest wealth not only to buy nice things, but also to offer assistance to those in need in her community--the battered young wives who needed a place to stay, the niece whose parents weren't going to be able to make the next semester's tuition payments, childcare for the young couple without family nearby to help.
Davis's portrait of her mother borders on hagiography. Where Bridgett admits to her mother's human failings, it almost feels as if she's waving them away. She doesn't dwell on her mother's shortcomings. She came here to celebrate Fannie's life, and it's a beautiful tribute that any mother would be honored to read.
The Detroit Davis grew up in changed significantly over the 60s and 70s, and you get a little of that in the story. We get a little bit of education in the impact of redlining on black home-ownership and what space Numbers games occupied in the black community. But mostly, this is a small scale story of a young woman doing her best to take care of her family through the eyes of her youngest child. (Fanny Davis passed in 1992. Fanny was private, and her perspective is missing here.)
Fanny's story is an American story. The story of a woman who knew the world was indifferent (at best) to her health and welfare, and found a way forward regardless of any obstacles ahead. If there were any justice in the world, this would be optioned for a movie shortly.
February 28, 2019
Set in Detroit in the 60's and 70's, "The World According to Fannie Davis" is Bridgett Davis' memoir of her mother, Fannie, who ran her own numbers business. Fannie Davis and her husband moved to Detroit from Nashville during the 1950's and raised their family there. Although her husband found work in one of Detroit's many auto factories, Fannie decided to use her talent for numbers and people into launching her own numbers business. She was very successful at it, and the profits she gained provided a steady income for her family and a source of generational wealth for her children.
The book goes into a detailed discussion of what the "the numbers" were and how they worked. In a nutshell, "the numbers" was an illegal lottery played in poor and working class neighborhoods in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. A person picked a three digit number, then paid a fee of their choice, which was then collected by a bookie (in this case, Fannie Davis). The bets were closed and the winning number was randomly drawn the following day, usually from the last three digits of a handle (win, place, and show bets) from the racing journals in New York. If one of Fannie's bettors number 'hit' the number, then the funds were gathered from a third party and given to the winner. Many poor people favored the numbers because they could play for as little as a nickel. What's remarkable here is that the numbers was generally dominated by men and criminal networks like the mafia. Fannie ran her business out of her home, establishing a comfortable source of income for her family.
I learned a lot in this book--not just about the numbers, but about Detroit in general with its loss of factory jobs, white flight, etc. With Michigan's adoption of a state lottery, many of the small time bookies went out of business. Fannie remained in business long after, and the story of how she did this is really exceptional.
Highly recommend this book.
The book goes into a detailed discussion of what the "the numbers" were and how they worked. In a nutshell, "the numbers" was an illegal lottery played in poor and working class neighborhoods in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. A person picked a three digit number, then paid a fee of their choice, which was then collected by a bookie (in this case, Fannie Davis). The bets were closed and the winning number was randomly drawn the following day, usually from the last three digits of a handle (win, place, and show bets) from the racing journals in New York. If one of Fannie's bettors number 'hit' the number, then the funds were gathered from a third party and given to the winner. Many poor people favored the numbers because they could play for as little as a nickel. What's remarkable here is that the numbers was generally dominated by men and criminal networks like the mafia. Fannie ran her business out of her home, establishing a comfortable source of income for her family.
I learned a lot in this book--not just about the numbers, but about Detroit in general with its loss of factory jobs, white flight, etc. With Michigan's adoption of a state lottery, many of the small time bookies went out of business. Fannie remained in business long after, and the story of how she did this is really exceptional.
Highly recommend this book.
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June 24, 2019Where this works best is a story of the unbelievable odds that black families dealt with in trying to establish middle class lives and the celebration of a woman who took such glee in having established that life. I didn't know anything about the numbers before this book and reading about it was eye-opening. I also enjoyed thinking about alternative jobs women take to allow them to still be "home" with kids. The author's argument that many of the hardest pushes against this type of gambling were completely race based had some solid factual backing. What I felt like had less concrete support was the idea that no person was hurt by the numbers. While this was evidently true for Fannie's clients, I can't imagine that the clients of less scrupulous number runners didn't face more harmful outcomes, especially with the mob involvement. Which isn't to say that Davis's assertion that legalized gambling serves more as an alternative form of taxes instead of a community resource doesn't have solid footing.
March 10, 2019
I think that this is an tribute to an amazing woman. This is a story about the author's admiration for her mother who came from very meager beginnings, worked hard using her brains, cunning and kind heart to lift them up to a comfortable life. Bridgett, the author, tells us over and over how her mother managed to run this illegal business (the Numbers) and take care of the community. It was nice to read of all the lessons the Author learned and the love she had for her mother - a truly unique woman. I felt that the book was a bit repetitive and there were moments where we would go on a tangent or trip down memory lane and I wasn't sure what exactly I was supposed to be getting from the moment which is why only three stars for me. I found myself wanting to jump ahead but overall good story nonetheless.
March 2, 2019
The slogan "Detroit Hustles Harder" is borne out by this memoir of numbers running in the 60s and 70s before and after the legalization of gambling. This is a great complement to "Black Detroit," and an even more satisfying take on everyday working/middle class African-American Detroiters' self-determination. It also provides a fascinating analysis of how the Michigan lottery represented an attempt to co-opt that self-determination, and the resilience of the underground economy to that disruption. A good Michigan read, and a solid choice for the Read Harder 2019 challenge for a book of non-violent true crime.
June 4, 2018
Heartfelt and thoughtful, blending the author's personal family history with a bigger-picture look at how the country was changing (for good and more often for bad) for black families during the same time. And a fascinating snapshot of the last 50-or-so years of Detroit history. Brought The Turner House to mind frequently, for obvious reasons! Highly recommended.
July 12, 2019
I really enjoyed this book on a number of levels. This book is SO Detroit. It captures the changing Detroit I grew up in through one family's story and frames it within an historical context. Fannie was a feminist before her time - a fascinating person worth reading about. I highly recommend.
February 5, 2020
A romanticized memoir of Davis’ mother, Fannie. Lacked direction.
September 2, 2020
I am not sure this book was about Fannie Davis's life as a numbers runner so much as it was a story of a Black woman carving out oppotunities for herself and her family where none existed. This felt more memior than biography and I'm not complaining. In part it was Bridgett's coming of age story. I love stories of mother daughter relationships though I love stories of unapologetic Black women even more. It is a story of migration, loss, family, pride, love, and survival. I wish that the author had the chance to interview her mother because it's absence is so felt. I wonder what Fannie thought of Fannie's journey? I guess these remembrances of family are the next best thing? Lesson for me: hug my mother a little tighter next time I see her.
September 17, 2021
Das war, soweit ich mich erinnern kann, mein erstes autobiografisches Buch einer schwarzen Amerikanerin, das nicht von Armut handelt, sondern von Wohlstand, der nicht nur erreicht, sondern auch erhalten wird. Das wäre an sich schon interessant genug gewesen, aber es enthält außerdem (für mich überraschend; das Cover sieht nicht danach aus) viele über die individuelle Biografie hinausgehende Erklärungen, wodurch dieser Wohlstand für Schwarze in den USA so unwahrscheinlich wird, und zusätzlich eine Feminismus-Version, über die ich auch noch nicht viel gelesen habe. Über die numbers weiß ich jetzt auch mehr als vorher. Nicht vom Cover abschrecken lassen, das ist eine interessante Biografie (der Mutter) / Autobiografie (der Tochter) und ein gutes Sachbuch.
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