To date, I have authored four books, and edited one other. Each are related to the silent film star Louise Brooks. Due out sometime next year are two more works, Lulu in in America: The Lost History of Louise Brooks and Pandora’s Box, and a rather large two volume work, Around the World with Louise Brooks. I have plans to write a more books after that, a few more on Brooks and a couple of titles not about this singular actress! Check out my GoodReads or amazon.com author pages for more information.
The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond PandorasBox Press, 2023.
— The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is a deep dive into the history of one film, the 1925 silent, The Street of Forgotten Men. A popular and critical success at the time of its release, the film is based on a story by a noted writer, made by a significant director, shot by one of a great cinematographers, and features a fine cast which includes a future screen legend at the beginning of her career. The story of the film is told in rich, historical detail — not only the film’s making, critical reception, and exhibition history but also its surprising legacy. Along with dozens of rare images and vintage clippings, this new book contains all manner of documents from the story on which the film was based to censorship records to a French fictionalization of the film to detailed credits and trivia, and even a review by a candidate for sainthood.
The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond features forewords by Robert Byrne, whose restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men saved it from an undeserving obscurity, and film historian and Oscar honoree Kevin Brownlow, who revealed little known details about the film drawn from his correspondence with Louise Brooks, the future screen legend who played a bit part in the film.
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Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star. PandorasBox Press, 2018.
— This book brings together 15 years work. Gathered here are a selection of my articles, essays, and blogs about the silent film star. Brooks’ 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 the actress’ 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 singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, actor Paul McGann (the 8th Doctor Who), and novelist Laura Moriarty, author of The Chaperone, the basis for the PBS film.
“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
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Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. PandorasBox Press, 2017.
foreword by William Wellman Jr.
— This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the provocative, gender-bending film the Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie.
“I can say (with head bowed modestly) that I know more about the career of director William A. Wellman than pretty much anybody … but there are things in Thomas Gladysz’s new book on Wellman’s Beggars of Life that I didn’t know. More important, the writing is so good and the research so deep that even when I was reading about facts that were familiar to me, I was enjoying myself hugely.” — Frank Thompson, co-author of Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman
“Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film is a quick, satisfying read, illustrated with promotional material, posters and stills as well as press clippings. In these pages, Gladysz takes us through the making and the reception of the film and clears up a few mysteries too…. This highly readable book will deepen your enjoyment and understanding of a silent Hollywood classic.” — Pamela Hutchinson, author of Pandora’s Box (BFI Film Classics)
“Gladysz has written a brief but informative book …. offers … true insight.” — Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Now We’re in the Air. PandorasBox Press, 2017.
foreword by Robert Byrne
— I helped with the preservation of this once-lost film, and wrote this book afterwords detailing the history of the movie and its discovery by film preservationist Robert Byrne; also considered is the surprising impact this otherwise little known film has had on Brooks’ life and career.
“The absolute final word on the film from the world’s foremost expert on Louise Brooks. Thoroughly researched and expertly written, oh, and did I mention lavishly illustrated? If you love silent film and if you love Louise Brooks (and who doesn’t) you really should pick up a copy for your library.” — amazon.com review
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Böhme, Margarete. The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition). PandorasBox Press, 2010.
— I brought back into print, edited, and wrote an extensive introduction to this classic German work of feminist literature. The books’ publication was the subject of an article in Deutsche Welle, “Forgotten book by Margarete Boehme to be revived in US,” as well as an exhibit & event at the San Francisco Public Library. My illustrated and annotated edition received good reviews all around, and has even been sited in an academic thesis.
“In today’s parlance this would be called a movie tie-in edition, but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research and passion.” — Leonard Maltin
“Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Böhme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. This reissue is long overdue, and a volume of uncommon merit.” — Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran
“It was such a pleasure to come upon your well documented and beautifully presented edition.” — Elizabeth Boa, University of Nottingham (UK)
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Around the World with Louise Brooks. PandorasBox Press, forthcoming in 2024.
— Louise Brooks was known by many names: in Czechoslovakia she was Louise Brooksová, in Latvia Luīze Bruksa, in Russia Луиза Брукс, and in Spain the more familiar Luisa Brooks. Around the World with Louise Brooks is a groundbreaking, two-volume, multilingual look at the life and career of a truly international movie star. This heavily illustrated, 900+ page two volume work looks at the career of an American film star not through American sources, but through the collective voice of the world. Here is the iconic actress as she was seen not only in Germany and France – the two countries where she made her best films, but also in Japan (where she was the subject of a cult following) and some four dozen other countries across the globe, from Brazil and Cuba to China and Poland to nation-states which no longer exist (Danzig) and countries yet to be born (Vietnam).
Volume One: The Actress looks at how Brooks was promoted and perceived across the globe, with special chapters focusing on Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Volume Two: The Films documents where and when and under what titles Brooks’ films were shown — from grand movie palaces in Berlin and Bombay to humble open air spaces in Singapore and Darwin, Australia.
Additionally, some of my journalism has been included in books authored
or edited by others: a few such publications are noted here.
“Catching Up a Bitter Buddhist: An Interview with Allen Ginsberg.” In Conversations with Allen Ginsberg, edited by David Stephen Calonne, University of Mississippi Press, 2019.
— my first interview with the famed poet is included in this collection
“Interview with Allen Ginsberg.” In Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, by Sarah Greenough, National Gallery of Art / Prestel, 2010.
— My second, oft-reprinted interview with poet Allen Ginsberg on the subject of his photography is included in this monograph, which also served as the catalog to a traveling exhibit. [Notably, articles on the book and exhibit mention my interview, including pieces in Artes and Guernica magazines, the Calgary Herald (Canada), and this article in The Atlantic which opens with a quote from my interview.]
“Louise Brooks.” In Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, edited by David J. Wishart, University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
— I wrote the entry on Louise Brooks for this regional reference work.
“Jim Carroll: Verbal Entries.” In Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale Group, 2001.
— My interview with Jim Carroll — NYC poet, famed author of The Basketball Diaries, and acclaimed punk rock singer songwriter (“People Who Died”) is reprinted in this series on contemporary literature.
“Interview with Allen Ginsberg.” In Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews, 1958-1996, edited by David Carter, HarperCollins, 1996.
— Poet Allen Ginsberg was interviewed hundreds of times, including twice by me. My second interview, from 1991, was chosen for inclusion in this book, the definitive collection of interviews with the famed Beat writer; this volume, which includes a preface by Vaclav Havel, an introduction by Edmund White, and contributions by William F. Buckley Jr., Tom Clark and others, has been translated and published around the world.
Marco Sassone, Diane Nelson Gallery, 1989.
— Twenty four page catalog for a March 1989 exhibition of the work of Marco Sassone, an internationally recognized contemporary artist. I wrote the introductory essay for this gallery catalog featuring then new work by the Italian-American painter. Includes 7 color plates, my introduction, a bibliography, chronology, and exhibition checklist. The catalog is long out-of-print, and today, scarce copies show-up rarely.