Alice B Toklas / What is Remembered First Edition 1963

by Alice B. Toklas

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

Genres: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, France

333 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

People remember American writer Alice Babette Toklas as the domestic partner of Gertrude Stein; her works include cookbooks and a volume of memoirs.

She joined as a member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century. Born to a Polish army officer in a middle-class Jewish family, she attended schools in San Francisco and Seattle. For a short time, she also studied music at the University of Washington.
She arrived in Paris and met on 8 September 1907.
Together, they hosted a salon that attracted expatriates, such as Ernest Miller Hemingway, Paul Bowles, Thornton Niven Wilder, and Sherwood Anderson, and avant-garde painters, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque.

Toklas, a background figure, acted as confidante, secretary, muse, editor, critic, and general organizer and chiefly living in the shadow until she published in 1933 under the teasing title The Autobiography of Alice Babette Toklas , bestselling book.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good to read about Gertrude Stein from her girlfriend's perspective.
Having read a few of Gertrude Stein's works, I'd often wondered how she and Alice Toklas supported themselves in France for over thirty years, and this book provides the answer. Both independently wealthy, with an income from family businesses, the Steins were reasonably wealthy, but the Toklas family, much more so.
Gertrude had to write, sell her writing, and do lectures at universities, to support their lavish lifestyle. Alice did not have to work, so could devote herself to being Gertrude's typist and companion. While Gertrude sprang from Pittsburg, Alice had grown up in San Fransisco, and survived the earthquake there in 1906, and had already toured Europe with another lady friend when Gertrude met her in Paris. Gertrude invited both ladies out to her and her brother's salon, when Picasso, Matisse and Apolinaire met, then invited Alice to galleries alone, as she found her girlfriend boring, she was soon packed off to the States.
Alice outlines the war-work which the pair did while in France, Gertrude learning to drive, and buying a truck to transport medical supplies. They both volunteered in France during both WW1 and WW2. (They were both American Jews) They were forced to host German billets, but offered their country-house willingly to the French army billets. It's also fascinating to read how their travels at first involved all sorts of horse drawn carriages, trains and steamer ships for ocean crossings, followed by the advent of cars, and their later tour of the USA was by small aircraft, but still a luxurious ship to cross the Atlantic.
Alice also revealed that Gertrude had trouble getting published from Paris or the south of France, she would have to visit the London editors in person, and invite them to tea or dinner in order to get published. Even after publishing many books and being very well known. Alice Toklas name-drops European royalty and nobility who they met, but was mostly impressed by artists and other writers.
She also describes with fondness their art collection, they'd flog a Picasso if they were desperate, as well as antiques, bronze statues, and coral jewellery which they'd buy, and their beloved dogs.
From Alice's description, it sounds like Gertrude had some illness like advanced cancer, and was in denial about it, leading to her death on the operating table.
Alice outlived her famous partner by some decades, and the reader can see their fondness, even looking back over the years.
Words like lesbian or homosexual are never used here, and one can only guess that a musician they mention was Black, because they counselled him to live in France, for less racial discrimination. All same sex partners are referred to as friends, while Gertrude and Alice always maintained seperate bedrooms and bathrooms, not wanting to arouse the suspicion of their servants.
A remarkable woman, and part of a remarkable couple.

[Alexander]

I ran into friends at a cafe and they asked me how this was, and to my surprise I had quite a bit to say about it.

First off, I have to say I find it to be written with an incredible level of compression. Second, like the autobiographical writings of many famous people, it has a built-in level of suspense and dramatic irony---we know, that is, "how it turns out". So when we hear her say in the very first chapter that "The Steins" had to come back to San Francisco for the fire, to survey the damage, we experience a little jolt of knowing what will come of their meeting.

Toklas so far shows a very steady hand. The writing is excellent, and seems both casual and completely serious. The lyricism is almost hidden.

[sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

a delightfully boring romp through alice b. toklas's impossible memory. i enjoyed the names i recognized, mainly from my 20th century american literature course, hemingway and fitzgerald and pound and joyce and picasso. and of course, gertrude stein.

i have such an appreciation for stein's prose. i don't really care that i don't understand it, or if it doesn't make any sense, it feels beautiful, it feels passionate and real. i can't wait to read more, this inspired me to do so!

ultimately, this book made more sense for me of how 1920s parisian writers and painters made their livings (they were born rich and got lucky), and gave more insight into the relationship of stein and toklas. bless our lesbian foremothers, i wish you could've written about your love less discreetly.

[Faith Reidenbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valuable for Alice's description of her first meeting with Gertrude and glimpses into their devotion to each other. A very dry style, though, and long recitations of people and places unknown to me.

[Brian Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alice B. Toklas in What is Remembered remembers quite a lot, and in amazing detail, particularly what everyone in Gertrude Stein’s circle wore at their various soirées. Totally aside from the insight it gives into Stein’s literary & artistic world, Toklas’ tale is almost a “how the other half lives” when that other half is the wealthy & privileged class of the early 20th century. Anyway, if you’re seeking to understand the mystery of how on earth Gertrude Stein achieved notoriety, then this is required reading, although (spoiler), that remains a mystery.

[Paul Cassedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actual autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

You have likely heard of a (admittedly very clever) book called "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" which was actually written by Gertrude Stein. Very little of that book is actually about Toklas; it is almost all about Gertrude Stein.

This book, written after Stein's death, really is Toklas' recollections. Not just of her time with Stein, but both before (memories of the San Francsic earthquake, for example), and after (the correct version of Stein's last words is nothing like what one hears elsewhere).

This book is facinating because although much of it covers the same ground as Stein's book, it does so in much more human (and far less ego-Stein-centric) detail. It is very well worth a read for it's own sake, just as well written as Stein's book, with even more simple and straightforward prose; but it is even more worth reading for the many human details it contains of their life together and the many famous people they came to know in Paris between the wars.

Especially notable is the very interesting account of two jewish women who remained in France (albeit not in Paris) right through the war, including the German occupation. There were actually German (and Italian) soldiers billeted in their house with them.

This is well worth a read and (as in my case) several re-reads. Especially if you are interested in the many facinating characters with whom these two ladies shared their lives. A small book and an easy read; I finished it in less than a day.

[Vincent Hernot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've now read quite a lot of those, about and around Gertrude Stein, and this is the one by Alice, her partner of several decades. There's certainly an echo of Stein's style in there - and how could there not be, since she typed all of her manuscripts? - and the same familiar figures: Picasso, Hemingway and a score of others. It's nice, but more in a let's-make-a-collection-of-this way.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a fascinating portrait of an artistic / bohemian life in Paris prior to and during World War II. But it reads like a record in which only names and activities are jotted down. There is no reflection on the people, activities, and events mentioned, and that makes for tedious reading--at least, for a 21st century reader used to a more confessional style of memoir.

[Nola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice B Toklas was the partner of Gertrude Stein. If you have no knowledge of Stein or Toklas this would be a read that one would find difficult as it is written in a style like nothing and no one else.
This book is about memories and what occurred during her time with Stein.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful memoir. A perfect companion piece to anything written by the Lost Generation. And this is truly a love story. Alice was a gentle and beautiful soul, I am glad I was able to meet her this way. Gertrude was blessed.

[Barbara Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when you think it's a mundane memoir of a housewife, Picasso walks through, or Hemmingway or Dali or the Fitzgeralds. Wild.

[Shawne Seignious · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting Memoir that was a bit dry but interesting in many places. what a life...

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Sadly, I don't own the first edition hardcover...but this was the only option!)

This is a weird book. It is essentially a retelling of the events of Alice's life (and therefore Gertrude's) from just before they met until Gertrude's death. It has no narrative structure to speak of, and events are reported quite matter-of-factly, with minimal emotion and without interpretation of their significance. It's kind of like a letter from my British grandmother, were she independently wealthy and friends with Picasso and other famous people from the early 20th century. It was interesting to read from a historical perspective, but it was also quite a slog.

[Meisen Wong]

This memoir is certainly recommended if you are interested in the literary and arts scene of the 1920s, where Gertrude Stein functions as a gatekeeper to the 'scene', and wherever she is, becomes the revolving door to all the creative-celebrities of the time. So, expect a lot of name-dropping. The Jazz Age is a highly romanticized period, so it is interesting to find out --through this memoir-- that key figures of that period are very much complicit in producing a romantic representation as well. The hardships and damage done to individuals who had returned from the war, the drug addictions, the mental afflictions are all glossed over. Perhaps what is most unsettling about this memoir is that it beings with Toklas's voice at the beginning where she recounts her childhood and learning, but that intelligent voice very quickly subsides and disappears when she meets and begins her relationship with Gertrude Stein. All subsequent accounts and decisions she made was dependent on Stein's whims and preferences. I suppose in every creative relationship, there is likely to be a dominant one, and a supportive subordinate; regardless of gender.