BY G. CONNOR SALTER

Novelist. Magician (amateur, specializing in mentalism and fire eating). Spanish Civil War veteran and poet. Cowboy ballad singer who taught Spanish songs to Pete Seeger. Chronicler of carnival stories. Recovered alcoholic and prolific contributor to Alcoholics Anonymous publication The Grapevine. Husband (for a time) to poet and editor Joy Davidman, and influence on her novel Weeping Bay. William Lindsay Gresham packed a varied life into his 52 years, including writing at least one classic book—his noir novel Nightmare Alley.

Yet few people write about him today. The 2021 release of a new adaptation of Nightmare Alley by Guillermo del Toro led to many new articles discussing the book and Gresham’s life, but not much new material.

Fortunately, that’s beginning to change. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing several researchers exploring his live, and relatives seeking to offer a new view on his life. I’ve also been able to release some work from Gresham’s archives, such as his poem about C.S. Lewis, “The Friar of Oxford.”

Since today, November 29, is C.S. Lewis Reading Day, and Gresham is an understudied figure in Inklings discussions, I would like to offer some reading material for researchers who want to explore his story.

In the interest of not seeming egotistical, I have divided this reading list in half, mentioning the researchers who came before me first.

Gresham Scholarship Resources By Others

Here are some of the best resources by other writers for learning about Gresham’s life. I’ve emphasized pieces that bring fresh information to the discussion.

  1. “Nightmare Alley: Geeks, Cons, Tips, and Marks” by Charles Shapiro. Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties, edited by David Madden. Southern Illinois University Press, 1968, pp. 218–224. One of the few essays I have found that is devoted solely to Gresham’s novel, and filled with insights into the novel as an offshoot of the 1930s hardboiled school of crime fiction.
  2. Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis by Douglas Gresham. Macmillan, 1988. As the title suggests, this book by the younger of the two Gresham sons is primarily about what happened after Davidman separated from Gresham in 1954 and married Lewis. Some details have been questioned or at least reconsidered (Douglas has apparently admitted in later years that he does not remember an alleged incident where his father broke a bottle over his head, an incident that his mother mentioned and which David Gresham claims was a lie). However, it offered an early warts-and-all look at Gresham as a talented writer and complicated father and husband.
  3. “William Lindsay Gresham: Nothing Matters in This Goddamned Lunatic Asylum But Dough” by Paul Duncan. Noir Fiction: Dark Highways by Paul Duncan. Pocket Books, 2002, pp. 47-50. A short, intriguing discussion of the theory that the hard-boiled school of crime fiction contains a thread we can call noir fiction. Duncan’s profile of Gresham is short but vivid and accessible. It also contains one of the most reprinted quotes by Gresham, in which he allegedly described himself as “too mean and ornery to kill, I guess.”
  4. “Introduction” by Nick Tosches. Nightmare Alley. New York Review of Books, 2010, pp. vii-xiii. Tosche’s introduction (also published on CrimeReads) may sadly be the last we see of his research. However, it does him credit. This is a smart, compact look at Gresham’s life which provides more details than Duncan does, particularly about archival evidence that Gresham saw a little of himself in Nightmare Alley protagonist Stanton Carlisle.
  5. “The Sad and the Geeky Life of William Lindsay Gresham” by Masimo Polidori. Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2003, pp. 14-17. Gives a deeper look than Duncan or Tosches into Gresham’s writings about magicians and paranormal phenomena, including a never-finished biography of D.D. Home.
  6. “One Man’s Nightmare: The Noir Journey of William Lindsey Gresham” by Alan Prendergast. Writer’s Chronicle, May 2006. Prendergast goes into some details that Polidori doesn’t explore, particularly the composition of Gresham’s second novel, Limbo Tower.
  7. Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Douglas A. Anderson. Del Rey, 2008. Anderson republishes Gresham’s short story “The Dream Dust Factory,” offering some never-before-discussed insights on whether Lewis knew Gresham’s sci-fi short fiction.
  8. Exiles From a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth-Century Literary Left by Alan M. Wald. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Wald offers a short profile of Gresham that emphasizes his period as a member of the Community Party of the United States of America, also the period when Gresham met Davidman. Along with a few notes that Wald offers about Gresham in his books American Night: The Literary Left in the Era of the Cold War (University of North Carolina Press, 2012) and Writing from the Left: New Essays on Radical Culture and Politics (Verso, 1994), this material was probably the most detailed profile of Gresham in any academic book up to that point. While new information has made a few details outdated (whether Gresham was married to Jean Karsavina before he married Davidman), it continues to be a great academic-level resource on Gresham as a writer and disenchanted political activist.
  9. Grindshow: The Selected Writings of William Lindsay Gresham edited by Bret Wood. Centipede Press, 2013. This book collects the best of Gresham’s short fiction and nonfiction, from detective stories to journalistic articles published in men’s magazines like The Dude. Wood’s introduction provides many details about Gresham’s early career and some excellent quotes from Wood’s interviews with Gresham’s third wife, Renée Rodriguez.
  10. Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail Santamaria. Houghton Mifflin Court, 2015. This well-written biography of Davidman goes a long way toward filling in what we didn’t know about Gresham, including correcting misconceptions about his alcoholism. Read Brenton Dickieson’s thoughts on the book here.
  11. Monster Midway by William Lindsay Gresham. Dunce Books, 2021. A reissue of Gresham’s 1953 book about all aspects of the carnival life from the daredevil motorcycle racing to the “freak shows.” Gresham also discusses his own life occasionally—including the unforgettable story of getting the idea for Nightmare Alley during the Spanish Civil War. I’ll be giving more thoughts on this book in an upcoming issue of Mythlore.
  12. “The Road to Nightmare Alley: William Lindsay Gresham in the Spanish Civil War” by Chris Books. The Volunteer, February 11, 2022. Brooks uses the Abraham Lincoln Brigade archives to fill in what few writers discuss in detail: Gresham’s 1937-1938 war record serving in the Brigade.
  13. “‘It Ain’t Hope If It’s a Lie, Stan’: Thoughts on Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley” by John Stanifer. A Pilgrim in Narnia, December 22, 2022. A nice compare-and-contrast article summarizing Gresham’s life while also reviewing del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. I may be biased because I know John, and he helped inspire me to dig deeper into Gresham’s story. However, I would argue that this is one of the better articles released during the del Toro movie craze because John adds many details that other articles overlooked. For example, he talks about how important the Spanish Civil War was to Gresham’s life and about Gresham recording Lewis reading from the Ransom trilogy in 1960.

John also co-led a discussion with myself and Brenton Dickieson,   “Fate, Hope, and the Dark Side of Enchantment,” for the Inkling Folk Fellowship on January 7, 2022.

Gresham Scholarship Resources By Me (Sometimes with Others)

As Gresham might have said when he dabbled in a mentalist act, if my assistant will pull away the curtain, I reveal my contributions:

  1. “The Nightmare Alley of That Hideous Strength: A Look at C.S. Lewis and William Gresham.” A Pilgrim in Narnia, December 8, 2021. A look at how Gresham and Lewis play with similar ideas about magic and “the lure of the inner ring” in their fiction.
  2. “William Lindsay Gresham and the Inklings: A Look at Nightmare Alley.” CSL: A Bulletin of the C.S. Lewis Society, September/October 2023, pp. 1-10. Originally published on Fellowship & Fairydust, August 20, 2023. Reflections on Gresham scholarship and what happens when you read him alongside Williams and Sayers as a genre-pushing crime author.
  3. “Remembering William Lindsay Gresham: Interview with Rosemary Simmons.” Fellowship & Fairydust, October 30, 2023. Rosemary, Renée’s daughter, provided some insightful details about growing up with Gresham as a stepfather and her time with his two sons, David and Douglas. Revised and expanded on March 1, 2024.v
  4. “Book Review: Nightmare Alley Graphic Novel by Spain Rodriguez.” gcsalter.wordpress.com, December 20, 2023. Thoughts on the 2003 graphic novel adaptation of Nightmare Alley and its arduous production process.
  5. “William Lindsay Gresham and Norse Poetry: A Surprising Discovery.” CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society, vol. 55, no. 1, #519, January/February 2024, pp. 8–12. Gresham’s 1940s Norse myth poem “Rahnhild,” with commentary on its potential sources. To the best of available records, this is the first time “Rahnhild” was ever published and only the second Gresham poem ever published
  6. “William Lindsay Gresham, The Inklings, and Magic: An Interview with Diego Domingo.” Fellowship and Fairydust, February 7, 2024. A Gresham aficionado and fandom coordinator discusses Nightmare Alley and Gresham’s AA involvement.
  7. “Exploring William Lindsay Gresham: Interview with Biographer Clark Sheldon.” Fellowship & Fairydust, March 20, 2024. Sheldon describes how he became interested in Gresham’s life, explores some misconceptions about him and Davidman, and provides rarely-discussed details about Gresham’s early life.
  8.  “Monster Midway: An Uninhibited Look at the Glittering World of the Carny by William Lindsay Gresham.” Mythlore, vol. 42, no. 2, #144, Spring/Summer 2024, pp. 195–196. A short review of Gresham’s guide to carnival culture, republished in 2021 by Dunce Books.
  9. “Remembering The Great Merlini: An Interview with Clayton Rawson Jr.” Mystery*File, May 2, 2024. Clayton Rawson’s son discusses his memories of Gresham, a friend of the Rawsons and fellow fan of stage magic.
  10. “A Conversation with Zeena Schreck about Nightmare Alley.” Punk Noir Magazine, May 22, 2024. A conversation with Zeena Schreck, daughter of Anton Lavey, about her father’s fascination with Nightmare Alley, rumors that he knew Gresham in the 1950s, and her reflections on the way different readers can get different things from crime fiction.
  11. “Nightmare Alley the Musical: Interview with Jonathan Brielle.” Fellowship & Fairydust, July 18, 2024. Jonathan Brielle discusses his meetings with Gresham’s widow Renee and his long journey to release a musical version of Nightmare Alley.
  12. “Freud, Faith and Tarot in Nightmare Alley: Further Thoughts with Jonathan Brielle.” Fellowship & Fairydust, July 25, 2024. More material from the Brielle interview, organized thematically, from his thoughts on how magic and faith are portrayed in Nightmare Alley to his own intuitions about Gresham’s journey.
  13. “Reviewed by Connor Salter: WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM – Limbo Tower.” Mystery*File, July 29, 2024. A short review (and as near as I can tell, the only review published on the Internet except for a LiveJournal post from 2004) of Gresham’s second novel, the frustrating yet ambitious Limbo Tower.
  14. “The Women that C.S. Lewis Loved: Interview with Don W. King.” Fellowship & Fairydust, August 14, 2024. While not primarily about Gresham, my interview with King about his books on Ruth Pitter and Joy Davidman includes asking his views on some questions that Gresham researchers have asked (such as whether Joy Davidman wrote poems that appear in Limbo Tower).
  15. “Joy Davidman, William Lindsay Gresham and the American Literary Left: Interview with Alan M. Wald.” Fellowship & Fairydust, September 11, 2024. American left historian Alan M. Wald speaks about his search to find primary material on Davidman and Gresham, and offers his feelings on how leftwing themes appear in their novels.
  16. “Friar Jack, The Science-Fiction Apologist: Exploring ‘The Friar of Oxford’ by William Lindsay Gresham.” Co-written with Sørina Higgins Mythlore, vol. 43, no. 1, #145, Fall/Winter 2024, pp. 244–263.
  17. “What Are Magic and Myth Good For? Exploring William Lindsay Gresham’s Memories from Oz.” Journal of Inklings Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, October 2024, pp. 201–218. One of Gresham’s few published recollections about his divorce is a piece published in the Baum Bugle called “Scarecrow the Rescue.” I republished the article with commentary on how its ideas about myth, fantasy literature, and hope parallel Inklings ideas while moving toward more humanistic conclusions that mirror his friend John Dickson Carr’s views on the supernatural.
  18. “5 Things I Learned about William Lindsay Gresham.” Edinburgh University Press, October 17, 2024. A guest piece Edinburgh University Press allowed me to write to showcase my Journal of Inklings Studies essay, and discuss pieces of research that did not make it into the article.
  19. “Reviewed by Connor Salter: WILLIAM LINDSAY GRESHAM – Monster Midway.” Mystery*File, October 28, 2024. Another review of Monster Midway, this time focusing on its connections to other Gresham works.
  20. “William Lindsay Gresham and Nightmare Alley: Interview with Bret Wood.” Fellowship & Fairydust, November 15, 2024. Bret Wood discusses how he became interested in Nightmare Alley and his opinions of other Gresham works, as well as the Nightmare Alley cinematic adaptations.
  21. “Interview with Bob Pierce about William Lindsay Gresham.” Mystery*File, November 20, 2024. Gresham’s stepson talks about his memories of growing up with Gresham, including his work on the bodybuilding guide The Book of Strength.
  22. “Keeping William Lindsay Gresham’s Memory Alive: Interview with Bret Wood.” Fellowship & Fairydust, November 22, 2024. Wood talks about his time with Nick Tosches researching Gresham, including conversations with Gresham’s widow which informed his book Grindshow: The Selected Writings of William Lindsay Gresham.

I have been fortunate to publish lots of new things for people to read about Gresham. But it happened with much encouragement from Inklings scholars who believed it was worth digging deeper into his story.

I am hoping that next C.S. Lewis Reading Day will show new work on Gresham from other researchers. Things like fresh work on his poetry, his friendships with Carr and Rawson, and others exploring ideas that Wood has put forward about whether Gresham is a crime writer or something more radical.

(Article first published November 29, 2024)