Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

Karen Leick (Ohio State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1933

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)
- Memoir

Resources

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Gertrude Stein's life-long companion, Alice B. Toklas, is the narrator of this book written by Stein, which describes their life together in Paris from Alice's point of view. Thus,

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

is not, in fact, Alice B. Toklas's autobiography; instead it is Gertrude Stein's idea of what such a book might look like. Many readers have remarked that, because the book describes Gertrude Stein more than any other person, the book is actually Stein's autobiography of herself. The

Autobiography

does, however, begin in an almost conventional way with a very brief chapter about Alice's childhood in San Francisco, California, “Before I Came to Paris”. It is also true that much of the book describes Stein's life before she knew Toklas, including childhood memories:…

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1624 words

Citation: Leick, Karen. "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 July 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1547, accessed 25 November 2024.]

Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

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