Clyde Brion Davis (May 22, 1894 – July 19, 1962) was an American writer and freelance journalist active from the mid-1920s until his death. He is best known for his novels ''The Anointed'' and ''The Great American Novel'', though he wrote more than 15 books.

Life and career

Clyde Brion Davis was born on May 22, 1894, in

Unadilla, Nebraska Unadilla is a village in Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 296 at the 2020 census. History Unadilla was platted in 1871 when the Midland Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. It was named after Unadilla, New York, ...

, to Charles Nelson and Isabel Brion Davis. His father was a friend and strong supporter of the legendary Nebraska politician

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

. A year after the boy's birth, the Davis family moved to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, where Davis attended schools in Chillicothe and Kansas City. At 14, he quit school and was employed in several jobs including printer's apprentice, steamfitter's helper,

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...

, electrician, detective and journalist. In 1916, Davis gained his first experience in journalism, working with the ''Denver Times'' and ''Albuquerque Morning Journal''. He acquired further experience in journalism writing for the Army newspaper ''The Pontanezan Duckboard'' while serving in the United States Army Intelligence Corps (1917–1919) during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Upon his return to the United States, Davis, with the exception of a few months working for the Burns Detective Agency, spent the years between 1919 and 1937 working for various newspapers, including ''Denver Post'' (1919), ''Rocky Mountain News'' (1920–1922), ''San Francisco Examiner'' (1921), ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (1930), and ''Buffalo Times'' (1931–1937). Davis' fiction efforts were first published by a number of

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. ...

during the 1920s. In 1926, he married artist and writer Martha Wirt. Their only child, historian

David Brion Davis David Brion Davis (February 16, 1927 – April 14, 2019) was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, ...

, was born on February 16, 1927, in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Davis resided in

Hamburg, New York Hamburg ( ) is a Town (New York), town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 60,085. It is named after the city of Hamburg, Germany. The town is on t ...

in the late 1930s. He wrote a number of novels and short stories before the publication of his novel ''The Anointed'' in 1937. The

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...

chose ''The Anointed'' as its selection for August 1937 and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

adapted the novel in 1945 to the

movie ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'' starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

and

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was a British-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the homef ...

. Following the success of ''The Anointed'', Davis left journalism for a career in creative writing. For the most part he focused on writing novels and short stories, other than a brief period of syndicate work in Europe for ''PM'' and ''Knight'' newspapers in 1941, two months in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and two years as an associate editor for Rinehart and Company (1943–1945). Davis was awarded a Huntington Hartford fellowship for the years 1956–1957. Over his career, he wrote more than 20 novels, including ''The Great American Novel'' (1938) and ''The Rebellion of Leo Maguire'' (1944). ''The Anointed'' is about an uneducated egotist who, convinced God has some great purpose in view for him, travels the globe and then takes up book-learning to discover what it is. ''The Great American Novel'' (1938) is a humorous novel about a newspaperman who dreams of writing the

Great American Novel The "Great American Novel" (sometimes abbreviated as GAN) is the term for a Western Canon, canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and Culture of the United States, character of the United States. The term was coined b ...

, but never has the time. His memoir ''The Age of Indiscretion'' (1950) was a curmudgeonly retort to nostalgia for the "good old days" circa 1900. He argued that the America of the mid-20th century was not only richer and healthier than the America of his boyhood, but also happier and more moral. In 1946, Davis and his family moved to

Salisbury, Connecticut Salisbury () is a New England town, town situated in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwesternmost in the state of Connecticut; the Connecticut-Massachusetts-New York tri-state marker is located at the northwest ...

, where he was an active citizen (serving as Justice of the Peace between 1947 and 1957) until his death in Salisbury on July 19, 1962. His last novel, ''Shadow of a Day'', was published posthumously.

Partial bibliography

;Fiction *''The Anointed'' ( Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1937) *''The Great American Novel'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1938) *''Northend Wildcats'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1938) *''Sullivan'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1940) *''Follow the Leader'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942) *''The Rebellion of Leo McGuire'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1944) *''Stars Incline'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1946) *''Adventure'' (

The World Publishing Company The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...

, New York, 1946) – a reissue of ''The Anointed'' *''Jeremy Bell'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1947) *''Temper the Wind'' (''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', September 26, 1948) (a Gold Seal Novel) *''Playtime is Over'' ( Arthur Barker, 1950) *''Thudbury: An American Comedy'' ( Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1952) *''Unholy Uproar'', a novel (Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1957) *''The Big Pink Kite'' (

John Day Company The John Day Company was a New York City-based publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926 to 1968. It was founded by Richard J. Walsh (publisher), Richard J. Walsh in 1926 and named a ...

, New York, 1960) *''Shadow of A Day'' (John Day Company, New York, 1963) ;Non-Fiction *''The Arkansas'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1940) ( Rivers of America Series) *''Nebraska Coast'' (Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1939) *''The Age of Indiscretion'' (Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1950) ;Short stories *"From Peter to Paul and Back" ('' Top-Notch'', June 15, 1920) *"The Hay Fever Handicap" ('' Argosy All-Story Weekly'', September 21, 1929) *"The Lumberjack Telegrapher" (''Frontier Stories'', January 1929) *"Payday" (''

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded '' Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904) ...

'', November 1938) *"Something for Nothing" (''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Bouche ...

'', August 1955) ;Archives
Clyde Brion Davis Papers
YCAL MSS 255.
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University.

References

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070930070832/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771112,00.html?promoid=googlep Review of ''The Great American Novel'', ''Time'' magazine, June 6, 1938*
Turner Classic MoviesDavid Brion Davis Papers, Yale University
*Kellman, Steven G. "The Self-Begetting Great American Novel: Clyde Brion Davis's Melding of Traditions". ''Southwest Review'' 62(1977): 65-72.

External links

Clyde Brion Davis Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Clyde Brion 1894 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American novelists People from Otoe County, Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska American male journalists 20th-century American journalists United States Army personnel of World War I Writers from Nebraska People from Salisbury, Connecticut Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from Missouri People from Hamburg, New York American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers