Max Brand: 30 Million Words of Fiction - Part I

INK & GRIT: Masters of Pulp Fiction

Our INK & GRIT series continues with one of the most prolific pulp writers, now almost forgotten. Frederick Faust, known better by his pen name Max Brand, was a powerhouse pulp fictioneer who published more than 30 million words of novels, short stories, poetry, and plays from 1919 until his untimely death in 1944. His story is captured in the wonderful biography, Max Brand: The Big Westerner by Robert Easton, where the biographer captures the larger than life figure that is Faust in over 300 pages, a compelling and readable account of how an aspiring professional poet, with a deep ambition to prove himself, became a a master of pulp fiction.

Faust, a romantic, a poet, a scholar, a boxer, an adventurer, a soldier, a father, a husband, and writer, built his career against all odds during a time of pure upheaval, war, and uncertainty. In Part I, we will look at his humble beginnings and his early career as a pulp writer.

Boyhood and Schooling

Born in 1892, Faust was a sickly, lanky, and pale child who, by the time he was eight years old, would travel routinely up the road for gasoline from the shopkeeper on behalf of his father, who was known for never paying his bills on time. It was this humiliation ritual, along with frequent family dinners of bread, milk, and cheese that would sink deep into Faust’s personal hatred of poverty.

His daily escape was in his books and the printed word. Faust loved stories and poured into works of Homer, Dante, Thucydides, history, mythology, along with classic works of Dickens, Poe, Dumas, Scott, and Goethe that kindled his desire to leave behind his childhood days of destitution and live a life that he felt he deserved. His mother died when he was young, his father not long after. As he went on to live with relatives, he continued to devour book after book, often identifying himself with the hero, misfit, or lonely outsider of the stories he read. Faust was a dreamer, someone who felt strong that he was destined to make a name (and healthy income) for himself. He just needed to go out into the world and seize it.

The University Years

He arrived at University of Southern California as a freshman, quickly finding favor among his professors. His English professor, Leonard Bacon, a future recipient for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, took an immediate liking to Faust.

In the classroom, Faust gained reputation as a scholar.

“At first offering, Faust submitted a thousand-word paper on Thomas Hardy. Bacon found it a better piece of criticism than appeared in most literary monthlies. Together [Bacon and Faust], they translated Grillparzer’s romantic tragedy Konig Ottokar into blank verse, but it was rejected when submitted for publication to the English club. The defeat cemented their friendship and initiated Faust’s rebellion against literary establishments.”

Outside of the classroom, Faust gained notoriety as a scoundrel and a rebel.

“A Traditional smoker was held on campus in the gymnasium a week or two after the beginning of each fall term. It was given by sophomore men as a welcome to their freshman counterparts. Entertainment consisted chiefly of informal boxing matches between members of the two classes. Anyone could step into the ring. The lanky unknown who did so on behalf, on a particular September evening in 1911, did not look like a good bet. He seemed all arms, legs, and awkwardness and was greeted by catcalls and a few perfunctory cheers. The husky sophomore contender made his entrance amid a din of approval. But when the two squared off, the sophomore rooting section fell silent.

The freshman champion was revealed to have a sharp left and a devastating right cross…Faust stepped down from the ring never to be obscured again. From that day forward he was “The tall guy with the German name, Heinie Faust — the guy who fought at the smoker.”

Unfortunately, Faust found himself at odds with university President, resulting in his failure to graduate, public humiliation, and a burning desire to prove he was capable of so much more.

He would take his passionate spirit to the battlefield with numerous attempts to enlist in military service, each one resulting in either a rejection or a post far from the Frontline, which seemed to bore him. For Faust, he desired to be in the heat of battle. The man was relentless in his pursuit of combat that he even deserted his post in the American Legion of the Canadian Army after their deployment to Europe was postponed. Faust crossed the Canadian border discussed as a civilian and found his way in the New York.

Early Writing Days

Faust arrived in New York City in 1916 looking to enlist with the Volunteer Ambulance Service. He was rejected. Along with the British Army for his German surname.

He made ends meet by working in construction, staying in modest room at the local YMCA, retreating to his books and typewriter. Although he longed to join the ranks of the great poets he admired, Faust desired a steady income to keep a roof over his family to avoid his impoverished childhood upbringing.

He took much inspiration for his career from Honoré de Balzac, admiring the French novelist for his prolific output for his day.

“[Faust] greatly admired Balzac, identifying himself strongly with the French Balzac had survived by producing what would later be called pulp fiction at the rate of a book a month, in order to write better later. Faust believed he could do the same, except that he would write poetry later. [Faust] felt he could produce and sell, be he would remain a poet. Hadn’t Goethe and others written prose while remaining primarily poets? [Faust] decided to enter both heavens at once. He would write both poetry and prose.”

Faust garnered the attention of editor Robert Davis, who worked under Frank A. Munsey Publishing. Munsey was regarded as a screwed business man and father of the Pulps, using his business savvy to start publishing lurid and sensational fiction on cheap woodpulp paper. Davis took the helm of several pulp magazines and took a liking to Faust after proving himself a formidable writer with speed and style on his side.

“You’re supposed to be able to write?” growled Davis when he perused the letter of introduction, fixing Faust with an ever-present cigar and artic stare, “Well, let’s see if you can.”

“Here’s the plot,” Davis continued, handing out a sheet of paper he felt sure would rid him of [Faust]. “There’s an empty room down the hall with a typewriter and a ream of paper in it. Go down there, if you like, and see if you can write a story. Third door on your right.”

Faust read the plot…Looked at the clock. It was a little before ten.

“Will you be here till five?” Faust asked.

“I may be here till midnight.”

“Till five will do,” said Faust coolly and walked out with the paper in hand.

It all happened in six and a half hours of furious typing. Davis was flabbergasted…he was handed a seventy-eight-hundred word story, publishable then and still readable today.

“Where did you learn to write?” Davis asked.

“Third door on the right—down the hall,” Faust replied.

[Davis] bought the story for $78.00 [1,923.58 in 2024’s purchasing power].

In the next twenty years Faust was to produce nearly thirty million publishable words.

We’ll conclude Part I of Max Brand: INK & GRIT here. There is still much to cover in Part II (and possibly Part III?) including his career as a Western pulp writer, his family dynamic, and how he single-handedly filled an entire pulp magazine under numerous pen names (many such cases for pulp writers).

Faust is truly an inspiration of a pulp author with gusto, passion, and work ethic that may be the flagship example of what INK & GRIT truly means.

Till next time.