In addition to working as a journalist and editor, he also was co-screenwriter of Terry Gilliam's film
Jabberwocky, and also co-developer of the story and co-writer (uncredited) of the first draft of the screenplay that became the acclaimed dystopian film
Brazil (1985).
Alverson has written a dozen novels (four of which have been published in six languages), including the thriller
Fighting Back (1973). In
Goodey's Last Stand (1975) he introduced San Francisco private eye Joe Goodey, who returned in
Not Sleeping Just Dead (1977).
The New Yorker described
Goodey's Last Stand as "the next best thing to finding a new and unsuspected Raymond Chandler phantasmagoria.” In the crime fiction bibliography, Golden Gate Mysteries, Randal Brandt reviewed:
- Joe Goodey is a San Francisco shamus who appeared in two novels by Charles Alverson. Jonah Webster “Joe” Goodey makes his debut in Goodey’s Last Stand (1975). He is a San Francisco homicide detective whose career is cut short when he mistakes the mayor’s cousin for a gunman and shoots him. Goodey is then told, in no uncertain terms, to either resign and get the hell out of town, or face charges for attempted murder. Maybe, after things cool down, he can return to the city and get a private investigator’s license. His exile from San Francisco is short-lived, however, when he is called back to the city to investigate the murder of a popular North Beach stripper named Tina D’Oro, who also happened to be a special friend of the mayor’s. In Not Sleeping, Just Dead (1977), Goodey is hired to investigate the mysterious death of a young woman at a Monterey County commune/rehab clinic called The Institute. Goodey is a wisecracker who would never be accused of having enlightened views about women or minorities, but he is honest and a basically decent guy.
Alverson's credits also include children’s books, short stories and short film scripts, some of which have recently been adapted to comics by the cartoonist John Linton Roberson, including
Rapunzel and the parody
the Story of OH!Alverson currently resides in the village of Parage, Backa region of Vojvodina, Serbia with his wife, Zivana.