J Madison Davis
Biographic Data
| ID | 3599111 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Madison Davis |
| GIVEN NAMES | J Madison |
| FAMILY NAME | Davis |
| SIGNATURE | DAVIS J M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Anglia Ruskin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4352-4085 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 85 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 85 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
From Thatcherism to the Third Way
Improving Programming in Juvenile Detention
The Silver Bone
The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker
Reviewed by: The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker J. Madison Davis JOËL DICKER The Enigma of Room 622 Trans. Robert Bononno. New York. HarperVia. 2022. 592 pages. ALMOST EVERY DAY the news reminds us of the immediate horror and lifelong repercussions of crimes both individual and more general. Yet mystery stories of murder, robbery, and other serious crimes have been a huge source of amusement at least since the industrialization of printing. We…
Crown of Beaks by Erik Martiny
Reviewed by: Crown of Beaks by Erik Martiny J. Madison Davis TO DISTINGUISH THEIR art from that of the crowds of writers publishing today, many authors wander off well-trodden paths to explore theoretically interesting tropes and structures, reshaping, for instance–as this novel does–traditional elements of the police procedural into something other than a police procedural, yet drawing on its popular attractions. Crown of Beaks begins like many …
The Transparency of Time by Leonardo Padura
BOOKS IN REVIEW Leonardo Padura The Transparency of Time Trans. Anna Kushner. New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2021. 402 pages. IN DISCUSSIONS OF writers considered to be pushing the limits of the traditional detective story, the works of Cuban writer Leonardo Padura are frequently cited, and his latest translated novel, The Transparency of Time (La transparencia del tiempo), demonstrates the ambitious directions in which he is attempting to …
Víctor del ÁrbolBreathing through the Wound by Lisa Dillman
a balance, citing her own interactions with the figures she captures only to better frame them as people, whose lives will continue long after the author’s interaction with them ends. To the Lake summons the bulk of its power during these moments as Kassabova begs what is to become of community when its turmoil appears ceaseless. Appropriately, the constant of both lakes is reflection. Even as the story’s pace quickens as Kassabova approaches St.…
Chan Ho-KeiSecond Sister by Jeremy Tiang
Chan Ho-Kei Second Sister Trans. Jeremy Tiang. New York. Black Cat. 2020. 432 pages. CHAN HO-KEI, who lives in Taiwan, is one of the most successful rising stars of Asian crime writing. Born in Hong Kong, he began writing at age thirty-three. His first novel, The Man Who Sold the World, won the top award in Chinese mystery publishing, the Soji Shimada Mystery Award. His first novel translated into English, The Borrowed, was one of the most memora…
"A Chat with Eddie Muller, TCM's "Czar of Noir
Eddie Muller, the host of “Noir Alley” on Turner Classic Movies, has what just might be the ideal job. TCM is a cultural gem, a visual museum airing silent and foreign movies, curious travelogues, godawful comedies, and all the great movies as well—not to mention all those “B” noirs Muller shares with us. Muller's website calls him a “wordslinger,” “impresario,” and “noirchaeologist,” but even before TCM put him on the air, he had earned the nick…
The Piranhas
Those already familiar with the biblical basis will recognize the allusions to familiar narratives, names, and events, but Sveen never lapses into Bible Bingo, instead ensuring that each drop is deliberate and useful but never entirely essential. Anyone who lacks biblical specifics can still find this an engaging read, although they might walk away with a less traditional, albeit still interesting , view of Jesus and his disciples. Children of Go…
The First Twenty Years of the Twenty-First Century
The First Twenty Years of the Twenty-First Century Ten Reading Suggestions and a Farewell by J. Madison Davis CRIME & MYSTERY I n 2004 I was thinking about the way that the very American style of hard-boiled or “noir” detective story has spread around the world, even to languages and literatures that had not previously exhibited much interest in crime fiction. I put some of those thoughts into an article I offered to World Literature Today and so…
The Disorganized Organization
Features “I also wonder about how Hong Kong is perceived by those who do not live here or those who imagine it in passing. We can see ourselves, or so we think, but how are we seen?” – “Hong Kong Table Talks,” by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho Read Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s introduction to the Hong Kong cover feature starting on page 52. top Mong Kok bottom Smartphone Culture Photos: Eddie Tay WORLDLIT.ORG 9 TOP PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS The Disorganized Organizatio…
Eugene VodolazkinSolovyov and Larionov
Books in Review Dionne Brand 88 The Blue Clerk Broken Stars: 96 Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction inTranslation Dror Burstein 100 Muck Roberto Calasso 89 The Unnamable Present Cherokee Nation: A 102 History of Survival, Self Determination, & Identity Amparo Dávila 83 The Houseguest & Other Stories Suzanne Dracius 104 The Dancing Other Daša Drndić 95 Doppelgänger Nuruddin Farah 82 North of Dawn Tana French 105 Witch Elm Johannes Görannson 96 Tr…
Our "Golden Age" of TV Crime Drama
Features “And yet, I’d had enough of this too-solid ground. I elbowed my way to the front.” – “Ascensions,” by Pierre Bettencourt Read “Ascensions” and three more fabulist tales by Pierre Bettencourt on page 40. WORLDLIT.ORG 9 Our “Golden Age”of TV Crime Drama The Artistic Promise of Television Blooms by J. Madison Davis CRIME & MYSTERY M ORE THAN ONE CRITIC has proclaimed that television in the early twenty-first century is in a “Golden Age” in …
Chester B. Himes
Polly, Nancy, and Torchy Crack the Case
WORLDLIT.ORG 9 photo : laura rodríguez / argentina / rnw . org / flickr Features “We are neither museum pieces nor part of a distant and harmless folklore. We are a living people, we exist. We are still alive.” – from the inaugural address of Petü Mogeleiñ (Mapuche Community Radio), El Maitén Chubut, Argentina, March 2008 To read an essay and poem by Mapuche poet Liliana Ancalao, turn to page 59. 10 WLT JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2018 O ne of the most impl…
Where Is a Bad Guy When You Really Need One? Antagonists and Master Criminals
Features “It wasn’t too pleasant knowing you were making stocks for prison camp inmates or testing the Kutuzov or Homer eyepunches (on mannequins, of course). Next thing you know, they’d be inventing a portable wall for executions.” —“Annus Mirabilis (Anus Horribilis),” by Aleksey Lukyanov From the Speculative Fiction special section starting on page 42. above Duo I, 2013, oil on canvas by Andre Schulze Courtesy of the artist/andreschulze.com WOR…
The Nightmare Tropes of Three Women Writers
Features “I think, for the first time since the Civil Rights movement, we as Americans are completely at a loss. And I think that’s why Baldwin has resurged, because Baldwin is the prophet of the human. What does it mean to be human?” – Chris Abani Read the full interview with Abani on page 18. James Baldwin in front of a statue of Shakespeare at the Albert Memorial in London. Photo by Allan Warren/Wikimedia WORLDLIT.ORG 9 T he conventional wisdo…
All This I Will Give to You by Dolores Redondo
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. The novel ends in an elegant twist awash in schadenfreude. Eventide is ink well spent. Lanie Tankard Austin, Texas Dolores Redondo All This I Will Give to You Trans. Michael Meigs. Seattle. Amazon Crossing. 2018. 478 pages. One expects a thick novel to be expansive in theme or epically cover a great deal of time and territory, but lately several mysteries, especially in translation, have be…
Ghosts in the White House
Features How does something immaterial like music fill a room? Italian graphic and motion designer Federico Piccirillo considers how music can breathe beauty into a place in this art installation titled Filling Spaces. Dig into music-inspired poetry, stories, interviews, and more in the Music & Lit section starting on page 39. PHOTO: FEDERICO PICCIRILLO WORLDLIT.ORG 9 PHOTO: RICHARD BURGER/FLICKR G iven the years of apprenticeship that most profe…
The Maisky Diaries
Political diaries come with certain caveats, one of which is that when diarists record something of interest, they are likely to do so in such a way as to paint themselves in the best light. But some diarists also have to consider implications other than the kindness of history. This was certainly true of Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to Britain during a deeply unsettling and dangerous time for both countries. Even though he was an important…
The Borrowed by Jeremy Tiang
Palo Oloixarac. Savage Theories. Trans. Roy Kesey. New York. Soho Press. 2017. 291 pages. In Savage Theories, Palo Oloixarac addresses the conflict of being both an individual with ideas and a social animal with libido. Theory and sexuality are woven together in the work, but only through an endless, brutal process, which the narrator depicts with uncompromising wit and arrogance. Oloixarac gives her narrator freedom to comment on anything by the…
The Late Arrival of the Native American Detective
WORLDLIT.ORG 27 photo : baeu rogers T he indignities and brutalities suffered by ethnic and racial groups at the hands of others are legion on the unhappiest pages of human history. Not the least of these insults is, of course, stereotyping or exaggerating ethnic traits with the intended or unintended result of reducing the complexities of a culture to an entertaining caricature. At the most basic level, we all shape reality, and storytellers ada…
Who Can Identify Byomkesh? The Mystery of the Missing Indian Mysteries
WORLDLIT.ORG 21 T he impact of British literature on India was profound, altering the poetry, fiction, and drama of the many cultures and languages unified by the empire, and it has lingered. Victorian attitudes in public entertainment remained powerful enough to embarrass many Indians with the sexuality decorating their own ancient temples. Kissing was illegal in Indian cinema until the 1990s, though that has hardly slowed “Bollywood,” which ann…
Admirably Perfect and Impossible to Love
photo : katherine dewey hill WORLDLIT.ORG 15 On a sultry and tinto-infused afternoon in Spain some years ago, a group of mystery writers from several nations were gossiping about editors and agents, contracts and jacket covers, and, of course, where to go for dinner. Our conversation drifted to the latest movies. Several writers vented their distaste for an adaptation of a novel by a writer we all particularly loathed, and having chopped it apart…
Kiwi Crime Writing
16 WLT JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2016 photo : stephen murphy N ew Zealand is, relatively speaking, a tiny country with a population half the size of New York City and in a location so remote, a commercial flight from Los Angeles takes over fifteen hours to get there. The closest big city, Sydney, is three hours across the almost landless Tasman Sea. Legendary for the beauty of its landscape and the fierce Maori culture that has occupied the islands sinc…
Left out in the cold
This article follows the journeys to Soviet Russia and Menshevik Georgia that were made by members of the British Labour Party in 1920. It examines what George Lansbury and the official Labour Party-TUC delegation found during their trips to Russia, and also the findings of Ramsay MacDonald who travelled to Georgia. These visits were important to British socialists, as they were crucial sources of information about the construction of socialism. …
People of the Mediterranean
Critical Essays on Edward Albee
Critical Essays on Edward Albee
The Shakespeare Name Dictionary
Left out in the cold
This article follows the journeys to Soviet Russia and Menshevik Georgia that were made by members of the British Labour Party in 1920. It examines what George Lansbury and the official Labour Party-TUC delegation found during their trips to Russia, and also the findings of Ramsay MacDonald who travelled to Georgia. These visits were important to British socialists, as they were crucial sources of information about the construction of socialism. …
The Bag Lady's Novels
IONAL RY The Bag lady's novels TONY HILLERMAN AND THE CRAFT OFWRITING he late Tony Hillerman often compared being a JL writer to being a bag lady. Not a prophet. Not a visionary. A bag lady. Roaming the streets and alleys with a squeaky shopping cart thatcontains all herworldly goods, she finds a pile of rubbish waiting on the curb. A broken lamp. Mil dewed paperbacks. A bag of stained baby clothes. Ah! But then some thing catches her eye. It's a…
A Not so Perfect Crime by Teresa Solana, Peter Bush
are earth's plague, rotten. The earth would be calmer if it were green less,without thisfury,thisblindwill that consumes everything but craves more...." This beautifullywritten, deeply disturbing vision has precedents in Merce Rodoreda's earlier fiction, and Tennent's translation will inter est readers takenwith The Time of theDoves. Death in Springwill also intrigue those who appreciate sur realist or experimental art, for the plasticity of itsd…
If It's Tuesday, There Must Be a Murder in Belgium
RIMe A^YSTeRY BY J. MADISON DAVIS IF IT'S TUESDAY, THERE MUST BE A MURDER IN BELGIUM ravel is so often an element of crime fictionthat,likebal JL listics,fingerprints, and ciga retteashes on the rug, readers pretty much take itforgranted.Many tele vision and mystery novel detectives are practically Grim Reapers, with theirarrivals anywhere precipitating an immediate death. JessicaFletcher had only to step out of her cab, and the victim hit the fl…
The Inventive Crime Writers of Catalonia
Crime International BY J. MADISON DAVIS THE INVENTIVE CRIME WRITERS OF CATALONIA To say theCatalans have been tenacious with theirnative language and culture only partly gives themcredit forhow dif ficult thishas been over the years. Catalonia became independent in 989, and Catalan reached itsheight as a literary language in the four teenthand fifteenth centuries.How ever, theCastilian dialect began to dominate the literatureof theIberian peninsu…
Murder in a Cold and Peaceful Place
CC^ JwXi INTERNATIONAL rime 6lMysteky _I_ ).MADISON DAVIS Murder in a Cold and peaceful Place ^BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBb! ^jg.,!*' 3 f anyone has any lingering doubts that crime writing is JL largely theproduct of the imagi nation, the case of Iceland should put them to rest.Here is a country, about the size of Kentucky, with a population of 306,694, and roughly two-thirdsof thepeople live in the area of Reykjavik. Its crime rate is so low that iti…
Mystery Meat, Beverage, and Your Choice of a Just Desserts
f "1 ^ k A INTERNATIONAL BY J. MADISON DAVIS Mystery Meat, Beverage, and Your Choice of a Just Desserts e*TT Although the term "culinary mystery'' sounds like something served ina school cafeteria,one of the most flourishingsub-genres of the mystery today features chefs,caterers, restaurateurs,and othermembers of the food industries.Rather like theacademic setting in mysteries, theworld ofhaute cuisine provides lotsof opportunities forodd, colorf…
Mr. Monk & the Pleasing Paradigm
C(C^ A INTERNATIONAL RIME ^MYSTERY I_- ?' BY ).MADISON DAVIS -""^ Mr. Monk & the Pleasing paradigm Television was once primarily a local, or at least national, force in culture, but as the world has gotten "flatter," to use Thomas Friedman's term, not just movies, but certain television shows have become well known globally. Many American crime dramas, such as Magnum, P.I. and Law and Order, have been exported to audiences abroad, and a few Briti…
Down These Mean Streets A Publisher Must Go
k A I NTERNATIONAL Cí^ rimf òlMystfby I NTERNATIONAL ). MADISON DAVIS Down These Mean Streetsa PublisherMust Go the akashic books noir series Johnny Temple,the bassist oftherockgroup Girls Against Boys, achievedeveryrocker's dreamof a recording contract witha major label,he didnotbuyhimself a limousine ,a mansion, or a dangerous supply ofillegal drugs. Hedidsomething unprecedented fora rocker hedecidedtopublish a book.Nota bookhe had written - as…
The Mensch Who Liked Egg Creams
k A INTERNATIONAL Crime ?l Mystery . MADISON DAVIS The Mensch Who Liked egg Creams: Memories of Stuart Kamin sky The first time I met Stuart Kaminsky (1934-2009) was inSpain, about twentyyears ago. Iwas new to the mystery game and basking in the warm acceptance ofmy first novel when Iwas invited to attend the Semana Negra, that grand carnival held each year to celebrate the "black" or crime novel. Authors from around the world gathered inMadrid a…
Is Heavy Rain in The Forecast
f "1 k j? International v^rime 6l Mystery J. MADISON DAVIS is Heavy rain IN THE FORECAST? Writers everywhere in every genre can't help but wonder what the future holds in publishing. Will there be paper books? Will all books be electronic? Or will the nature of the electronic "book" alter the current forms of storytelling in the book form beyond all recognition, changing what is written and why? The mystery has proved itself to be a very flexible…
Unimaginable Things
IONAL RY unimaginable things: The Feminist Noir of Natsuo Kirino aboveNatsuo Kirino For over half a century, the Mystery Writers ofAmeri ca has been presenting the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Novel, but since 1954 (when the first was given toCharlotte Jay for Beat Not the Bones), the win ner has only rarely been a book in a language other than English. This is not surprising. One could naturally expect that voters in the MWA would be biased to…
The Year's Best Crime Writer
k A International rime csl Myste ry MADISON DAVIS The Years Best Crime Writer: CHARLES DEN TEX DISCUSSES CRIME WRITING IN THE NETHERLANDS Behind almost all greatworks of literature is a crime. From the adultery of Helen of Troy, to Herod's slaughter of the innocents, to The Kite Runner and The Lovely Bones: it ishard to think of works of literature that don't have some kind of crime as their foundation. Nonethe less, the arbitrariness of the cult…
Two Ways of Describing the Elephant
f "1 k i? INTERNATIONAL I^rime c^Mystery MADISON DAVIS TWO WAYS OF DESCRIBING THE ELEPHANT: SCIENCE FICTION AND THE MYSTERY Comparing the most memo rable science fictionwith thebest crimewriting leads me to the conclusion that the for mer distinguishes itself primarily through ideas, while the latter ele vates itself through character. This isnot to say thatscience fictiondoes not produce powerful characters or that crime writing is bereft of sig…
Across the Revolutionary Divide
Turkish Delight
k À INTERNATIONAL CC^ RIMEC^MySTeRY INTERNATIONAL J.MADISON DAVIS Turkish Delight: The Ottoman Mysteries of Jenny White mysteries are a majorsubgenre ofcrime writing today, andaficionados agree thatJenny Whiteis one ofthebestat theform. Immigrating at age sevento theUnited States from Germany, White livedin NewRochelle, NewYork, attending Lehman College inthe Bronx. In2006 Norton published herfirst novel, The Sultan's Seal,setinIstanbul in 1886 d…
Noir, Italian Style
Scarface Al and His Pals
JLÀiNTERNATioN CC^rime 6l Mystery JLÀiNTERNATioN jj J.MADISON DAVIS SCARFACEAL AND HIS PALS: not much for books,butmagic on the screen gangster may seem nearlyubiquitous in crime writing, but with a few exceptions, itishardtonamemany gangster novels thathave had a major impact.Immediately, one thinks ofMarioPuzo'sTheGodfather (1969), butlikemany other novels Cimarr ón (1930)andGiant (1952)by EdnaFerber, CoolHandLuke(1965) byDonnPear ce,TheGraduat…
"Meet "Bo from Ro
f "1 k International v_>rimf f "1 c^Mystffy International I I J.MADISON DAVIS Meet "Bo from ro": BUILDING ROMANIAN CRIME WRITING m QC x < QC O Q O LU Io to x a. By no countries, official crime decree so in maintaining communist therewas a no crime in communist countries, so maintaining a vitaltradition of crimewriting in those countries wasa difficult, ifnot impossible, challenge. The hunger forentertainment readingwas still there, buthadtobefill…
The Shakespeare Name and Place Dictionary
Entries provide the likely sources for a name; describe historical and mythological backgrounds; examine Shakespeare's presentation of a character or place; and suggest various interpretations of a name. Each entry contains line citations to William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, edited by Wells and Taylor, Oxford University Press, 1986.
Credibility and Popularity in the Historical Mystery
R ecently, I noticed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour reruns on the Encore Suspense cable channel and watched a 1964 episode with Lillian Gish called “Body in the Barn.” Like most of Hitchcock’s episodes, it was based on a previously published story (by Margaret Manners) and cleverly misdirected the viewers’ attention from the essential clue. Centering on the identity of a body, the sleight of hand wasn’t realistic even in pre-DNA 1945 when the story wa…
Art (71 works) · History (70 works) · Literature (58 works) · Art history (50 works) · Law (47 works) · Political science (47 works) · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies (41 works) · Sociology (33 works) · Philosophy (29 works) · Psychology (18 works)