Louise Brooks from A to Z: N for North Goodman, New York City, "No, No, Nanette," Naked on my Goat, Now We're in the Air and Nadja
7 North Goodman Street, where Louise held residence until 1985 when she passed away.
North Goodman Street is where Louise lived and did most of her writing in Rochester, NY.
New York City served as Louise's home-base for years, and seemed to be the first place she went when she'd had enough of everything else. Evidence would suggest that her heart really lived there.
The 59th Street Bridge, which Louise lived next to on first avenue during the 1940s and 1950s...and she didn't like it.
No, No, Nanette was a show up on Broadway to which young Louise, age 18, was taken by Herman Mankiewicz, who was serving as a drama critic for the New York Times. He was expected to write a review of the performance, but had too many drinks beforehand and fell instantly asleep. Lucky for him, clever Louise payed close attention and wrote a stunningly eloquent review for him- and it was published! "...a highly meritorious paradigm of its kind...extremely mirth provoking...There is to No, No, Nanette, let it be stated for the benefit of those who assemble such statistical material, a plot, in which for the final curtain Nanette, the heroine, embraces Tom, the hero. There is a score, with more familiar quotations from itself - one refers to 'I Want to be Happy' and 'Tea for Two'- than even 'Hamlet." And there is an energetic cast of well selected comedians." (Paris, 92) She wasn't found out- what a bad ass. For more information on this feat, check out Louise Brooks by Barry Paris.
Naked on my Goat was the name of Louise's autobiography that she wrote while living in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. Upon finishing it, she promptly tossed it down the incinerator shoot. #thanksalotlouise (She reproduced some parts of it for James Card that are now still existing, thank goodness)
Louise Brooks and Wallace Beery, this image and more can be found on Silenthollywood.com
Now We're in the Air was a film that Louise made with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in 1927. She played twins named Griselle and Grisette and, while this would have been a hysterical sight to behold, the film is now considered lost.
Nadja is a surrealist novel by Andre Breton that was published in 1928 and was something that Louise read while living in Paris. This becomes an interesting choice of book when the plot of Nadja is considered and it's ever-pervading question of "Who am I?" This is certainly a question that Louise labored over more than most, and there are several odd comparisons to be made between her behavior and that of the idea of Nadja as this mysterious and improbable figure in literature.