Showing posts with label The Diary of a Lost Girl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Diary of a Lost Girl. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Booksigning for The Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl

Louise Brooks in Prix de Beaute
Thomas Gladysz, editor of the Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl, will be signing copies of his book on July 18 at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. The signing takes place following the screening of the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de Beaute, which is being presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

About the book, Leonard Maltin said: "Gladysz provides an authoritative series of essays that tell us about the author, the notoriety of her work (which was first published in 1905), and its translation to the screen. Production stills, advertisements, and other ephemera illustrate these introductory chapters. 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."

Also signing is the celebrated comix artist Kim Deitch, whose new book is The Amazing, Enlightening And Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley. It includes a silent film storyline. Little known is the fact that Deitch's father, the Academy Award winning animator Gene Deitch, once met Louise Brooks. Kim himself almost did! Also signing his DVDs, including Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, is the Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker Hugh Neely. It's a "Louise Brooks event" not to be missed.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Diary of a Lost Girl book signing

A reminder that I will be signing copies of my "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press) today, Saturday, March 23 from 2 to 5 pm at the first annual Noe Valley Authors Festival. Please join me an other local authors at this special event.

The event takes place at St. Philip the Apostle Parish Hall, 725 Diamond Street, between 24th and Elizabeth Streets, in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. A bit more about the event can be found on the San Francisco Chronicle website or below

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Diary of a Lost Girl: A brief history of a banned book

Every year since 1982, the American reading public observes Banned Books Week. This year, as in the past, hundreds of libraries and bookstores draw attention to the ongoing problem of censorship by hosting events and by creating displays of challenged works. It’s all about creating awareness.

In 2010, the Louise Brooks Society did it's part by helping bring a once censored work back into print. The book is The Diary of a Lost Girl. It's by a turn of the last century German writer few today have heard of, Margarete Böhme. Her book, a once-controversial bestseller, had been out of print in the United States for more than 100 years.

Though little known today, The Diary of a Lost Girl was a literary phenomenon in the early 20th century. It is considered by scholars of German literature to be one of the best-selling books of its time.

The Diary of a Lost Girl is an unlikely work of social protest. It’s also a tragedy – in 1909, a newspaper in New Zealand called it “the saddest of modern books.” In 1907, the English writer Hall Caine described it as the "poignant story of a great-hearted girl who kept her soul alive amidst all the mire that surrounded her poor body." Many years later, a contemporary scholar called it “Perhaps the most notorious and certainly the commercially most successful autobiographical narrative of the early twentieth century.”

The book tells the story of Thymian, a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution. Her story goes something like this. Seduced by her Father’s business associate, the teenage Thymian conceives a child which she is forced to give up; she is then cast out of her home, scorned by society, and ends up in a reform school – from which she escapes and by twists of fate hesitantly turns to life as a high-class escort. Prostitution is the only means of survival available to her. If its story sounds familiar, it likely because the book was the basis for the 1929 German movie of the same name. That silent film, still shown in theaters around the world, stars Louise Brooks.

The Diary of a Lost Girl, editions then and now

The author of The Diary of a Lost Girl, Margarete Böhme (1867-1939), was a progressive minded writer who meant to expose the hypocrisy of society and the very un-Christian behavior of some of its leading members. She also meant to show-up the double standards by which women of all ages suffer. Böhme’s frank treatment of sexuality (by the standards of the day) only added fuel to the fire of outrage which greeted the book in some quarters.

First published in Germany in 1905 as Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, Böhme’s book proved an enduring work – at least for a while and despite attacks by critics and social groups. The book was translated into 14 languages, and was reviewed and discussed across Europe. It inspired a popular sequel brought about by a flood of letters to the author, a controversial stage play banned in some German cities, a parody, lawsuits, two silent films - each of which were in turn censored, and a score of imitators.

The book confronts readers with the story of a likeable young women forced into a life of degradation. The complicity of her family – and by extension society – in her downward turn is provocative. However, Thymian – a truly endearing character and a heroine till the end, refuses to be coarsened by her experiences. She also refuses to let others define her - she defines herself. At the time, Böhme’s book helped open a dialogue on issues around the treatment of women.

In 1907, when the book was translated into English, its British publisher placed an advertisement in newspapers. The ads proclaimed Böhme’s work “The Book that Has Stirred the Hearts of the German People,” but somewhat defensively added “It is outspoken to a degree, but the great moral lesson it conveys is the publishers’ apology for venturing to reproduce this human document.”

In response to a review of the book in the Manchester Guardian, the Rev. J.K. Maconachie of the Manchester Association Against State Regulation of Vice wrote a surprising letter to the editor. He stated, “The appearance in Germany of this remarkable book, together with the stir it has made there and the fact that its author is a woman, betoken the uprising which has taken place in recent years amongst German women against the evils and injustice which the book reveals. . . . It may be hoped that discriminating circulation of The Diary of a Lost One will help many here to realize, in the forceful words of your reviewer, ‘the horror of setting aside one section of human beings for the use of another.’”

Back in Germany, the same sorts of groups which objected to the book also objected to the two films made from it. The first, from 1918, is considered lost, but we know from articles of the time that it was withdrawn from circulation because of its controversial story. The second film, which starred Louise Brooks, has come down in censored form.

As records from 1929 show, various groups including a German morality association, a national organization for young women, a national organization of Protestant girl’s boarding schools, and even the governor in Lower Silesia all voiced their objections to aspects of the film. As with the book, these groups objected to various key scenes. Each found the work to be demoralizing.

At the end of the Twenties, The Diary of a Lost Girl was still in print and was still being reissued in countries across Europe. It had by then sold more than 1,200,000 copies – ranking it among the 15 bestselling books of the era. Twenty five years after it was first published, however, Böhme's “terribly impressive book, full of accusations against society” was still considered a provocation. That’s why, just a very few years later at the beginning of the Nazi era, conservative groups still unsettled by its damning indictment of society deliberately drove it out-of-print.

In 1988, after decades of obscurity, a facsimile of the special 1907 edition was published in Germany. It was followed in 1995 by a small paperback which featured Louise Brooks on the cover. The recent "Louise Brooks edition" reprint of the original English language translation, also with Brooks on the cover and with some 40 pages of introductory and related material, appeared in 2010.

The impetus behind publishing a new edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl was about creating awareness. More importantly, it gives voice to a story which critics had long tried to silence. For additional background, check out these articles on Deutsche Welle and RTV Slovenia.


The 2012 Banned Books Week runs through October 6. The Diary of a Lost Girl is available through Indiebound and Amazon.com and other select bookstores and libraries.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Save 20% on The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)















Use coupon code ASTOUND at checkout and receive 20% off The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition). This offer good only on Lulu.com through August 10th.

"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

"It was such a pleasure to come upon your well documented and beautifully presented edition." -- Elizabeth Boa, University of Nottingham

"Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age." - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"An important contribution to film history. . . . a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

"Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl, back from obscurity." - Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

Friday, July 27, 2012

The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century

A just published book, The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century (Camden House, 2012), contains a reference to the "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl. The book is a collection of essays on the literature of the time.

One of the essays included in The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century is titled "Taking Sex to Market." It is by Elizabeth Boa, a UK scholar described as "One of the most respected Germanists of her generation." Boa is a scholar of modern German literature and who has written on Frank Wedekind and Franz Kafka and others.

In the footnotes to her essay, Boa references the "Louise Brooks edition" of  Bohme's bestselling book, Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (translated into English as The Diary of a Lost One, aka The Diary of a Lost Girl). It made my day when Boa described this edition as "splendid." (See below.)


The "Louise Brooks edition" of Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl is also included in the bibliography of this new book, which I am looking forward to getting a hold of.  

More info on "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl can be found here. And here are a few of the other reviews of the book which have appeared since it was published in 2010.

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Böhme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Böhme's German text, Thomas 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. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit." -- Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

"Gladysz provides an authoritative series of essays that tell us about the author, the notoriety of her work (which was first published in 1905), and its translation to the screen. Production stills, advertisements, and other ephemera illustrate these introductory chapters. 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

"Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age, and yet remains compelling. As a bonus, Gladysz richly illustrates the text with stills of Brooks from the famous film." -- Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl - the basis of Miss Brooks's classic 1929 film - back from obscurity. It remains a fascinating work." -- Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives


Friday, July 13, 2012

Booksigning for Louise Brooks edition of Diary of a Lost Girl

For those interested, I am signing copies of my book, the "Louise Brooks edition" of THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL, at the Castro Theater on Sat, July 14th, as part of the annual SF Silent Film Festival. My signing follows the Festivals presentation of a new restoration of Pandora's Box. This is a likely last signing for the book, as I only have 20 copies left of the book. More could be printed, and it is available through regular sources, but 20 is all I have left...... just saying.

Joining me at the signing table will be Hugh Munro Neely, the director of the great documentary film, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu.

My book signing is part of  a great line-up of author signings (by film historians, biographers, etc....) taking place throughout the festival. More info on the San Francisco Silent Film Festival blog.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Cool pic of the day: When Pandora's Box opened Jean Cocteau in Santa Fe

Cool pic of the day

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, was the first film to play
at the Jean Cocteau theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The above advertisement,
from 1984, indicates that the film was scheduled to run only one week. However,
it was still running at the end of May, when advertisements indicate it was showing
as part of a double bill with Diary of a Lost Girl, also starring Louise Brooks.
And yes, the films got good reviews.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

This and that, The Diary of a Lost Girl & Louise Brooks

I just received the most recent email newsletter from the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. They announced their December line-up of films, and also included a few pictures from their gift shop and film vault. There always seems to be a lot going on at the Fremont, California film museum. On Christmas night, they are screening Ella Cinders, starring that other bobbed-haired wonder from the Jazz Age - Colleen Moore.

I was especially pleased to see Louise Brooks front and center in a snapshot of one of their gift shop displays.


My recent Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl is doing well. A friend emailed me to say they saw it on display at the Neue Gallerie in New York City. And this past weekend, I visited Petaluma, California (a little more than an hour north of San Francisco) where I saw the book on display at Copperfields. According to the clerk at the cashier, this large stire has already sold 3 of the 5 copies they ordered! That's a pretty good sell-through. Here's an in situ snapshot of the book at Copperfields, right next to a George Clooney cover in the fiction section. Oh, and that's me.


The other good news is that another library has acquired the book for their collection. The Dakota County Library in Eagan, Minnesota go a copy last week. God bless em - as they are the second Minnesota library to acquire the book - the other being the Hennepin County Library. And here at my local San Francisco Public Library, their are 16 holds on the 4 copies they have in their collection! Wowza.

On January 13th of next year, I will be speaking about The Diary of a Lost Girl at the Village Voice Bookshop in Paris - with a screening of the film to follow at the nearby Action Cinema. While in France, I also plan on visiting the Cinémathèque Française and other Parisian sights connected with the actress's time there. More about the book can be found at http://www.pandorasbox.com/diary.html.
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