Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Jack Garner (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lulu Forever exists for its art, and on that score it delivers magnificently: I'd never seen fully half of the images in the book. There are scene stills, candids, snapshots, everything documenting the deadly lure of Lulu. Oddly, there are no pictures of Brooks as a ravaged old woman in a small apartment in Rochester-that would violate the masturbatory fantasia the book seeks to evoke." -- 12/18 NEW YORK OBSERVER

"affectionate and insightful portrait" -- Feb MALIBU TIMES MAGAZINE

"presented luminously..." "By turns gleeful, sultry and pensive, the shots are a photographic paean to Brooks' girlish beauty." -- 12/03/06 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

".....finding a certain comfort and familiarity in the heft and subtle texture of the cover and gilded lettering." -- SHELTER INTERIORS, April, 2007

"Cowie's new book is a fitting, even fascinating literary tribute .... It is a valuable addition to film history." -- PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, July, 2007

"Fans of the cinema will treasure Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever." -- VOGUE, December, 2006

"This beautiful book is chock-full of the peeling and romantic furnishings, books and mementos Carter surrounds herself with." -- PAPERCITY MAGAZINE HOUSTON, November, 2006

"This beautifully produced album celebrates this early screen star as Lulu with rare film footage stills, photos, letters, interviews, and text by film critic Peter Cowie." -- METROSOURCE NY, October, 2006

"lavishly illustrated...[Peter Cowie's] personal reflections on the ironies of her fate lend this volume an unexpected poignancy." -- VILLAGE VOICE, December, 2006

"...the gorgeously illustrated [book] captures the myth better than any of her films." -- Oct06 OUT

Product Description

Louise Brooks has become one of the most spectacular icons of early cinema. Her distinctive "bob" haircut looks as modern as they did when she first appeared in films in 1925. Louise Brooks was born on November 14, 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas, and by eighteen had established herself as a dancer with the Ziegfeld Follies, and was receiving film offers from both MGM and Paramount. In 1928, she starred in William Wellman's Beggars of Life. Meanwhile she was mingling with the high and mighty of Hollywood, having a passionate affair with Charlie Chaplin, spending weekends at William Randolph Hearst's castle and captivating such men as William S. Paley, the founder of CBS. Her brief, yet spectacular role in Howard Hawks' A Girl in Every Port impressed G.W. Pabst, the German maestro who was seeking an actress for his upcoming production, Pandora's Box. He rejected Marlene Dietrich in favor of Brooks, who went to Berlin and made not only Pandora's Box but also Diary of a Lost Girl, forever ensuring her status as a screen icon.This exquisitely produced album celebrates Lulu with rare film footage stills, private photos, letters, interviews, and text by renowned film critic Peter Cowie, exploring this influential cult figure and abiding symbol of the Jazz Age.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli; 1st edition (November 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847828662
• ISBN-13: 978-0847828661
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 8.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #405,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Tribute, October 12, 2007

By	Lichanos - See all my reviews

Louise Brooks' current reputation rests mostly on two films, both silent, both done in Germany by Pabst: Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. This excellently produced book provides more background on this all but forgotten star who, in her day, was a supreme flapper icon. Looking at the marvelous photographs, mostly film stills, but with some candids and modeling shots I've never seen before, you get a sense of why Brooks was such a sensation in her day.

Brooks' influence lived on long after her name and identity in the public mind had faded. Her hair, referred to as that "helmet bob" and her fashion sense, set the tone for generations of confident, independent, sexy young women. This book makes clear that she was more than just a projection of a strong image - she was a very special actress. The text is, at times, a bit too personal and adulatory, but it contains a lot of good, perceptive material on her appeal, and it fills in many details about her not very happy life.

In her two most famous roles, the prostitute-mistress-showgirl in Pandora's Box, and the abused middle-class waif in Lost Girl, Brooks was superb. Pandora is one of the sexiest films ever made, and this without nudity or sex! In Lost Girl, she is the archetype of oppressed femininity, but she rebounds! with a tough, no-nonsense core. Looking through this book takes you back to an earlier era in entertainment when sensibilities and expectations were different. For fans of silent films, it is a great find; for others - see if it doesn't make you a fan!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lulu lives on, February 18, 2007

By	Jack Danson (Oklahoma City) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent book for those of us that enjoy silent movies. It is filled with wonderful photographs of this too little appreciated (in her day) actress. I highly recommend it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Large Format Lulu!!, February 23, 2007

By	Martin Szabo (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Louise Brooks finally gets the beautifully produced book she deserves.
Great selection of photos.....large format book.....
Five stars from me!