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 belief: "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. New York Times Editor's Choice Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year Parade Best Book of 2019 Kirkus Best Memoirs of the Year Code Switch Book Club pick Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Pick A Buzzfeed Book Club Pick NBC's Best African-American Memoirs That Belong On Your Bookshelf "Fannie Davis is many things - a history of Detroit in its heyday, a sociology of black migrant culture and a taxonomy of the underground lottery of Fannie's era. Davis interviewed family members and conducted research, excavating Fannie's life and times. But the book is not academic in tone. Davis' account of her mother's life and business is first and foremost a loving memoir.-- "Erica Ciccarone, Nashville Scene" "The World According to Fannie Davis is a daughter's gesture of loving defiance, an act of reclamation, an absorbing portrait of her mother in full. Blending memoir and social history, [Davis] recounts her mother's extraordinary story alongside the larger context of Motor City's rise and fall.-- "Jennifer Szalai, New York Times" The World According to Fannie Davis is a love letter to [Davis'] mother, but also a crash course in economics and Black history...I gained a clearer understanding of what the phrase ["I'm playing the numbers"] really meant and how the lottery's existence was embedded in the livelihood and welfare of Black lives especially.-- "Jennifer Baker, Electric Lit" The World According to Fannie Davis is a compelling, unusual book. Bridgett Davis tells an insightful tale of how low-stakes gambling helped fuel-and fund-racial justice work in Detroit, while giving us an intimate, invaluable look at the complexities of class for African-Americans. Her story also makes a trenchant point: If a black family could achieve this much while locked out of decent mortgages and good jobs, imagine what they could have done if given the same opportunities as whites. A fascinating read.-- "Tracie McMillan, author of the New York Times bestseller The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table" The World According To Fannie Davis is a world of urban wit, grit and toughness. It is also a world of transformative magic- the magic of feminine strength and grace...as many people as possible should know about Fannie Davis.-- "Mary Gaitskill, author of National Book Award finalist Veronica" "[An] admiring and highly compelling memoir...This outstanding book is a tribute to one woman but will surely speak to the experiences of many. -- "Kirkus Reviews (starred and featured review)" "A panorama of African-American communities in this era, the resolve they demonstrated, and the restrictions put upon them in their pursuit of the American dream. It's a family story of nationwide scale." -- "Entertainment Weekly" "Davis' book is accessible, her language plain and direct. She has a clear-eyed understanding of what it means to be poor and what kind of opportunities money creates...We need more stories like Fannie's--the triumph and good life of a lucky black woman in a deeply corrupt world." -- "New York Times Book Review" "Novelist Davis honors her mother in this lively and heartfelt memoir of growing up in the 1960s and '70s Detroit...This charming tale of a strong and inspirational woman offers a tantalizing glimpse into the past, savoring the good without sugarcoating the bad." -- "Publishers Weekly" "Scintillating." -- "Millions.com" "The author candidly and poignantly transports readers to her formative years in Detroit." -- "Essence" "The Davis family story reads like a chapter of the American experience. But theirs is a story usually left out of history books or glossed over with little