The Autobiograhpy of Alice B. Toklas

A rose is a rose and these
are tulips!

Just going by the title I found this a curious entry in a list of novels.  Written by Gertrude Stein it might just as well be called "The Autobiography of Gertrude Stein" but then that would be too mundane and apparently Gertrude Stein needed to be out there.  I can’t say I have ever come into contact with any of her writings before this.  The sum total of my knowledge seemed to be something about a rose being a rose and maybe there was some vague mention of her in the movie “Reds” I saw years ago when that came out.  John Reed does get a very brief mention in this book as do lots of other “notable” people.  She seems like a big ole name dropper actually.  Everybody who was anybody on the art scene in Paris drops by at one time or another.  And after Gertrude Stein gets a few things published a lot of the young writers of the period also make an appearance. 

I’m not going to call this a great book but it was rather interesting and I have to say I am now curious to read some of Stein’s other writings she mentions throughout this book.  I’m not sure I’m allowed to refer to her as Stein because she is always referred to as Gertrude Stein in this book.  Some get first name mentions, some get last name mentions but Gertrude Stein is always Gertrude Stein. 

Most of the “action” (if you can call it that) takes place in Europe in the first part of the twentieth century.  The section on World War I was what I found the most interesting and I’m now hoping to do a little further research into that subject.  For some reason we are inundated with WWII but I’ve always heard, seen and read little about the Great War.  I recently visited the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and there was a whole section on Belgium and Hoover’s spearheading relief efforts there for the starving population.  Stein refers several times to the poor Belgians and I had at least a smidgen of an idea what she was talking about. 

Most of this book is one anecdote after another and many others all jumbled in between.    A pretty routine example:

Everybody sat down and everybody began to eat rice and other things, that is as soon as Guillaume Apollinaire and Rousseau came in which they did very presently and were wildly acclaimed. ..Everybody was presented and everybody sat down again.  Guillaume slipped into a seat beside Marie Laurencin.  At the sight of Guillaume, Marie who had become comparatively calm seated next to Gertrude Stein, broke out again in wild movements and outcries.  Guillaume got her out of the door and downstairs and after a decent interval they came back Marie a little bruised but sober.  By this time everybody had eaten everything and poetry began.  Oh yes, before this Frederic of the Lapin Agile and the University of Apaches had wandered in with his usual companion a donkey, was given a drink and wandered out again.  Then a little later some italian street singers hearing of the party came in.  Fernande rose at the end of the table and flushed and her forefinger straight into the air said it was not that kind of party, and they were promptly thrown out.

There is a lot of “art” talk, again a subject I don’t pretend to know a lot about, but Gertrude Stein hung out with Picasso, Matisse, Juan Gris, Rousseau, and many others.  Later on there are writers and publishers,  talk of Hemingway, Ford Maddox Ford, Sherwood Anderson, Jean Cocteau--you get the impression that everyone mentioned was “somebody” at that time whether you recognize the name or not. 

The very first chapter is about Alice B. Toklas and how she came to be in Paris and meet Gertrude Stein, but after that it is really all about Gertrude Stein.  They were a couple for many years although you won’t necessarily get that impression from the book but you will by a simple “goodsearch” on either woman. 

If you are looking for something concerning this time period and all these personalities you may very well find this a fascinating book.  The more you know about the artists and other famous types included the more interesting you will find it.  And that may be quite enough, but other than that I can’t tell you a whole lot that would recommend it.  It wasn’t a difficult a book and was on the whole rather pleasant reading.  Gertrude Stein definitely has a way about her in her writing style and when I have a chance I would like to check out some of her other writings.

Next week:  We both tackle All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren