L. J. Davis
Encyclopedia
Lawrence James Davis better known as L. J. Davis, was an American writer, whose novels focussed on Brooklyn, New York
.
Cowboys Don't Cry
Davis's novel, A Meaningful Life, described by the Village Voice as a "scathing 1971 satire about a reverse-pioneer from Idaho who tries to redeem his banal existence through the renovation of an old slummed-up Brooklyn town house", was reissued in 2009, with an introduction by Jonathan Lethem
. Lethem, a childhood friend of one of Davis's sons, praised the novel in an essay about Brooklyn authors, which resulted in New York Review Books Classics
reprinting it after nearly 40 years.
Davis has been a resident of Brooklyn since 1965. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1975 to write fiction, but then began to write journalism, notably for Harper's Magazine
.
Davis died at his home in Brooklyn on April 6, 2011.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Cowboys Don't Cry
Davis's novel, A Meaningful Life, described by the Village Voice as a "scathing 1971 satire about a reverse-pioneer from Idaho who tries to redeem his banal existence through the renovation of an old slummed-up Brooklyn town house", was reissued in 2009, with an introduction by Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...
. Lethem, a childhood friend of one of Davis's sons, praised the novel in an essay about Brooklyn authors, which resulted in New York Review Books Classics
New York Review Books
New York Review Books is the publishing house of The New York Review of Books. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, and The New York Review Children's Collection....
reprinting it after nearly 40 years.
Davis has been a resident of Brooklyn since 1965. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1975 to write fiction, but then began to write journalism, notably for Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
.
Davis died at his home in Brooklyn on April 6, 2011.
Novels
- Whence All But He Had Fled (1968)
- Cowboys Don't Cry (1969, Viking Press. reprinted 1970, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
) - A Meaningful Life (1971, 2009)
- Walking Small (1974)
Non-fiction books
- Bad Money: Big Business Disasters in the Age of a Credit Crisis (1982)
- Billionaire Shell Game: How Cable Baron John Malone and Assorted Corporate Titans Invented a Future Nobody Wanted (1998)
- Fleet Fire: Thomas Edison and the Pioneers of the Electric Revolution (2003)