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  • Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star

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Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star Paperback – July 28, 2018


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Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star brings together 15 years work by Thomas Gladysz, the Director of the Louise Brooks Society. Gathered here are a selection of his articles, essays, and blogs about the silent film star. The actress' best known films--Beggars of Life, Pandora's Box, and Diary of a Lost Girl--are discussed, as are many other little known aspects of Brooks' legendary career. These pieces range from the local ("Louise Brooks, at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and 16th Street") to the worldly ("Making Personas: Transnational Film Stardom in Modern Japan"), from the provocative ("A Girl in Every Port: The Birth of Lulu?") to the poignant ("Homage to George W. Lighton of Kentucky, idealistic silent film buff who perished in the Spanish Civil War"), from the quirky ("Louise Brooks' First Television Broadcast") to the surprising ("A Lost Girl, a Fake Diary, and a Forgotten Author"). Also included are related interviews with actor Paul McGann, singer- songwriter Rufus Wainwright, and novelist Laura Moriarty, author of The Chaperone.... with dozens of illustrations.
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Editorial Reviews

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"Thomas Gladysz, founder of the Louise Brooks Society, has written widely about the enigmatic silent film star - on his own blog, and news sites like the Examiner and Huffpost. But as he notes in the introduction to this book, web content has a tendency to disappear. That's why this print compendium of his many articles (spanning 20 years, from the dawn of the internet to the age of social media) is such a welcome feast. He covers everything from Brooks' own writing to her turbulent film career and cultural associates, right up to her abiding influence on the contemporary arts. Unlike other screen icons, 'Lulu' is far more famous today than she was at the height of her youth and beauty, and this (fully illustrated) book proves that 'the persistent star' is a perfect accolade." -- Tara Hanks, author of The Mmm Girl and Wicked Baby

"If there exists a No. 1 fan and a No. 1 chronicler of Brooks, it's Thomas Gladysz.... He has blogged and free-lanced articles and unearthed rare discoveries about the late star for many years, for several outlets, and has now published ....
Louise Brooks - The Persistent Star." - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (NY)

"Historian Thomas Gladysz has put together a number of his articles and essays from the past 15 years for the book
Louise Brooks: The Persistant Star. Gladysz is the director of the Louise Brooks Society, and his detailed essays will be fascinating reading for any fan of the iconic actress." -- Lea Stans, silentology

About the Author

Thomas Gladysz is the Director of the Louise Brooks Society, which he founded in 1995. He is the author of hundreds of articles on early film, many of which were written for various online publications. Gladysz has contributed program essays to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Syracuse Cinefest, Telluride, and Ebertfest, and introduced Brooks' films at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, and Action Cinema in Paris. In 2004, Gladysz contributed the entry on Louise Brooks to the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (University of Nebraska Press). He also edited and wrote the introduction to the "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Böhme's The Diary of a Lost Girl (2010), and authored two books on Brooks' films, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the1928 Film (2017), and Now We're in the Air (2017). His audio commentaries for Diary of a Lost Girl (2015) and Beggars of Life (2017) appear on the Kino Lorber DVD / Blu-rays. More at thomasgladysz.com

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About the author

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Thomas Gladysz
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Thomas Gladysz is an arts journalist and author. He writes about early film, books, art, music, and popular culture and has contributed to various print and online publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Film International, Pop Matters, Red Cedar Review, and Fiction magazine. His interviews with poet Allen Ginsberg appear in "Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg" (Prestel / National Gallery of Art), "Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews, 1958-1996" (HarperCollins), and "Conversations with Allen Ginsberg" (University Press of Mississippi).

Gladysz is the founding director of the Louise Brooks Society™ (www.pandorasbox.com), a pioneering website and online archive launched in 1995. He has contributed to books and festival programs, lectured, organized exhibits, and introduced Brooks' films around the world. "Louise Brooks: the Persistent Star" collects earlier writings on the actress. Gladysz assisted with the preservation of two Brooks' films, "The Street of Forgotten Men" and "Now We're in the Air", and authored books on each. Gladysz edited and wrote the introduction to the "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Bohme's "The Diary of a Lost Girl," and contributed an audio commentary to the Kino DVD of the film. He also contributed a commentary to the KINO release of "Beggars of Life," and authored "Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film".

Gladysz long worked as a bookseller in San Francisco, California. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and now lives in Sacramento, California. More at www.thomasgladysz.com

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5 out of 5 stars
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  • M Armstrong-Roper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book.
    Reviewed in Australia on September 3, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Thomas Gladysz has done it again. Another well researched and very readable book.