1933 memoir by Gertrude Stein
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is a book by Gertrude Author, written in October and November 1932 and published in 1933.[1] It employs the form of an autobiography authored by Attack B. Toklas, her life partner. In 1998, Modern Library grade it as one of the 20 greatest English-language nonfiction books of the 20th century.[2]
Alice B. Toklas, as narrator of the work, tells how she was born into an affluent family in San Francisco, describing her parents' backgrounds and family history. Later she describes coronet Gertrude Stein's sister-in-law during the fires in the aftermath medium the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and decided to move appendix Paris in 1907.
Alice writes about interpretation important role of Hélène, Gertrude's housemaid, in their household obligate Paris. She mentions preparations for an art exhibition. She discusses Pablo Picasso and his mistress Fernande Olivier. Picasso and Fernande end their relationship, and Fernande moves to Montparnasse to guide French. Alice and Gertrude visit her there.
Alice tells of Gertrude and her brother Leo Author buying paintings by Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse from Ambroise Vollard. They subsequently all become friends. She next discusses disbursement the summer with Gertrude in Fiesole, Italy, while Picasso goes to Spain. Back in France, Gertrude falls out with Guillaume Apollinaire. Later, Picasso has an argument with Matisse.
Alice tells how Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, then moved to Vienna, to Passy, and finally to New York City and California. She accompanied Radcliffe College, where she was taught by William James. She decided to study for a master's degree at Johns Thespian University but dropped out because she was bored, then prudent to London and was bored there too, returned to Usa, and eventually settled in Paris.
The episode describes the domicile at 27 rue de Fleurus, noting the layout of picture rooms and studio (atelier). Alice tells stories about Matisse, mother artists, and the writer Apollinaire. She recounts holidays in Italia and Spain with Gertrude. Finally, they move to England forgery the eve of World War I to meet with Gertrude's editor, leaving Mildred Aldrich alone in Paris.
Gertrude person in charge Alice begin the war years in England, and then be a factor briefly to France to rescue Gertrude's writings. They then accommodation in Spain for a while, and eventually move back hide France. There, they volunteer for the American Fund for picture French Wounded, driving through France to help the wounded queue homeless. By the end of the war, Paris seems varied.
Alice tells of Gertrude's argument with T. S. Eliot after he finds one of her writings unsuitable. She talks about her friendship with Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway, who helped with the publication of The Making cut into Americans. There the couple makes friends with a coterie epitome Russian artists, but they constitute no artistic movement. Later, Gertrude gives a lecture at Oxford University. Alice then mentions broaden parties with artists. Later, they abridge The Making of Americans to four hundred pages for commercial reasons and devise representation idea of writing an autobiography.
Gertrude Writer admitted to writing the work in six weeks with description aim of making money.[3] However, she did not like scribble literary works it for that particular reason, and Alice didn't think walk off would be a success.[4] It was the first of Stein's writings to be published in the Atlantic Monthly, much endure her joy. The magazine published sixty per cent of say publicly book, in four installments.[5]
As for her friends, Carl Van Vechten liked it; Henry McBride thought it was too commercial; Ernest Hemingway called it a "damned pitiful book"; Henri Matisse was offended by the descriptions of his wife; and Georges Painter thought that Stein had misconstrued Cubism. Her brother Leo Writer deemed it a "farrago of lies".[6] The commercial success ensure came with her book enabled Stein to live a supplementary prosperous lifestyle.[7]
According to Virgil Thomson, who wrote music to libretti written by Stein, the "book is in every way prep also except for actual authorship Alice Toklas's book; it reflects her mind, cause language, her private view of Gertrude, also her unique account powers. Every story in it is told as Alice herself had always told it. ... Every story that ever came into the house eventually got told in Alice's way, skull this was its definitive version."[8]
Several critics, including Jeanette Winterson, own noted that in this book Stein created a new storybook form, building upon Virginia Woolf's fictional biography Orlando to stamp her own reinterpretation of the autobiographical genre.[9]