Saturday, October 10, 2026

New short story anthology focussed on Charlie Chaplin to include Louise Brooks

Jerome Charyn emailed to let me know he has written a new story involving Louise Brooks. The acclaimed novelist has written about the actress (both fiction and non-fiction) in the past. Back in 2020, he penned a novella, Lulu in Love, which was excerpted in Fiction magazine.

Charyn's new short story, "Celestial Summer," is actually about Charlie Chaplin and Louise Brooks. It's set to appear in an anthology of stories about Chaplin titled Tramps, Seducers and Dictators, which will be published in hardcover in September 2027. 

The collection is edited by the noted anthologist and writer Maxim Jakubowski. This is the table of contents for

Maxim Jakubowski  INTRODUCTION
Jerome Charyn  CELESTIAL SUMMER
Barbara Nadel  KAFURSTENBLASTENDAM!
Vaseem Khan  A MEETING OF TITANS
Rose Biggin  COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT
David Quantick  HOORAY FOR HYNKELWOOD
William Boyle  SCHMUCK
Christine Poulson  THE GREAT DICTATOR
Tom Mead  THE IMPERSONATION GAME
Lavie Tidhar  LIMELIGHT
Martin Edwards  THE CASE OF THE CROYDON CONSPIRATOR
Chuck Brownman  THE GREAT CANE ROBBERY
Mia Dalia  THE LOST REELS
Greg Mosse  THE KID
Andrew Hook  MODERN LOVE
Jake Arnott  TRAMP CLOWN
Stephen Gallagher  FATHER’S DAY OUT
Jan Edwards  DEATH AND TAXES
James Grady  THE ELEVATOR
Victoria Dowd  SILENT WORDS
Rhys Hughes  STILL LIFE
Xan Brooks  POOR DEVIL
Mike Ripley  SHOOTING THE GREAT DICTATOR
Josh Pachter  THE PROFESSOR AND THE THIEF CATCHER
Ana Teresa Pereira  PAY THE PIPER
Nick Mamatas  CHAPLIN/NIXON
Maxim Jakubowski  THE CASE OF THE FREAK AND THE LOCKED ROOM
Stephen Volk  WORLDWORLD
Colin Bateman  KILLING CHAPLIN
 
I don't know much else about this new anthology excepting what's been reported here. But heck, you heard it here first!
 
 
Further reading... Charyn's 2018 non-fiction collection, In the Shadow of King Saul: Essays on Silence and Song, includes his early essay "Mr. Feathers," which touches upon Brooks and her enduring legacy as a cultural icon.lso, Brooks is prominently included in Charyn's 2003 book, Gangsters and Gold Diggers: Old New York, the Jazz Age, and the Birth of Broadway. In fact, she is a central figure in the book, and Charyn actually dedicated the book to her as one of three figures in a "bestiary".
 
Want to learn about other writers and artists who have paid homage to Louise Brooks? Be sure and check out the Homage to Lulu (Homage to Louise Brooks) page on the Louise Brooks Society website.
 
And to learn more about Brooks relationship with Chaplin, be sure to check out another Louise Brooks Society page, Louise Brooks and Charlie Chaplin: Two Happy Summer Months.
 
THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.   

Sunday, October 4, 2026

How Louise Brooks Came to Play Lulu in Pandora's Box

Film International has published my new article, "How Louise Brooks Came to Play Lulu: A New Look at an (old) Legend". It deconstruct the long held belief that Brooks was cast as Lulu in Pandora's Box after G. W. Pabst saw her in the Howard Hawks film, A Girl in Every Port. It's long, and may be the most significant article I have yet written on the actress. 

Check it out at https://filmint.nu/how-louise-brooks-came-to-play-lulu-thomas-gladysz/

This new article of mine is a kind of prequel. The sequel is my earlier Film International article, “Sin Lust Evil” in America: Louise Brooks and the Exhibition History of Pandora’s Box (1929)" which can be found at https://filmint.nu/louise-brooks-and-the-exhibition-history-of-pandoras-box-1929-thomas-gladysz/


THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  

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