Lost Generation discussion

Hello, Charlotte! This is a bit outside the Lost Generation, in that it doesn't directly involve the Usual Suspects from that era, but I have just finished (and will shortly post a review of) Lisa Cohen's ALL WE KNOW, a tripartite biography of Esther Murphy (Gerald's sister, and a close friend of Scott Fitzgerald and others), Mercedes de Acosta, and Madge Garland. It's a very interesting, somewhat unsatisfying book; but (and?) it examines a side of the LG that hasn't been much written about, and I'd love to know what others might think of it.

Hello! I just goined the group. I fell in love with the Lost Generation last year when I read Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast". I went on to read Sylvia Beach's "Shakespeare and Company" and Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". During the summer I went to Paris and I got to walk in their footsteps. I live in Sweden, and sadly most of the Lost Generation's books are out of print here. Really sad, especially since both Hemingway and T.S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize.

Amanda, have you read "Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy: A Lost Generation Love Story"? You might like it.

Hello to everyone! Ellinor, a great source with free worldwide shipping & very fair prices is: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk.
You may be able to find the titles that you don't have in Sweden. If you let me know which in particular are of interest to you, I will keep an eye out for them.
It's wonderful that you have become interested in the LG.

Hi Amanda, what a good lead. I must get the book; sounds great.
Thanks for the tip.
The book which got me started in my life-long interest of the times was "Memoirs of Montparnasse" by John Glassco. It truly gives the flavor of Paris in the 1920's & what it was like to be young there then!.
Two which I really find crammed full of information are "KiKi's Paris" by Klüver & Martin & "Paris the glamour Years 1919-40" by Tony Allan. Both are filled with great photos.

Amanda and Charlotte, thanks for all the suggestions. I have not read the books you list and now am eager to read them, thanks again!!

Courtenay, thanks for the tip (!) about "Everybody Was So Young" -- actually, I wrote it, so I'm thrilled to have you recommend it! And Charlotte, I haven't read the Glassco book but it sounds very interesting. I do love "Kiki's Paris," which does indeed have great illustrations.There are so many fascinating sub-groups of the loosely-defined Lost Gen: the Americans, the British, the little magazine crowd, the Russians, the Dadaists, the Surrealists (I guess thats where Kiki comes in)... you could go on and on. And there's a book for each group. A wonderful biography for the little magazine and small press crowd is Geoffrey Wolfe's "Black Sun," about Harry and Caresse Crosby, who founded the Black Sun Press. I recently reread it and it is as good as I remembered. Do let's keep this conversation going!

Since I'm new to this site, I'm still learning how to use it. I discovered "shelves" and have listed most of my LG books on a shelf of that name. I encourage other members to do the same for ease of viewing books others may find of interest. I still have a few old books to enter manually as they have no ISBN.
Amanda, I recall not liking Wolfe's book, but after your glowing rec. I will re-read it; thanks!

I've uploaded a few photos. Please add more & comment on these.

Hey everyone! I'm new to the group and am somewhat new to the Lost Generation - I'm working my way through the obvious authors of the time (Fitzgerald and Hemingway). Anyone have any recommendations outside of those two authors? Thanks!

Hi Remy! and welcome. It's great to have someone as young as you interested in the LG.
Here are four books which I believe will give you a good start:
"The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" by Gertrude Stein
""Being Geniuses Together" by Robert McAlmon
"The Crazy Years Paris in the Twenties" by William Wiser
"Writing the Lost Generation" by Craig Monk
Please keep the group apprised of your progress & feel free to ask any & all questions you may have. Happy reading!
P.S. the prom theme is wonderful. The field is wide open for improvisation; gotta love that.

I'll definitely check those out, thanks!

Hi, In my letter to all members, I referred to our newest member, Remy, as a "her". Sorry, Remy. N.B. all: "he" is a "he". Forgive me.

Thanks, dew! I truly appreciate your support. I love Riley's book about the LG, & have always wanted to read the other. Hope to visit Paris in May, so will have to read it soon! Perhaps I'll discover a few new places to visit.

Hi everyone, I just started "Shadows of the Sun", the Diaries of Harry Crosby". It's a tough read, as it has a lot of abbreviations & initials instead of names, so I'm constantly turning to the Notes section. Well worth the effort, though. The photos alone are reason to buy the book. I'll try to reproduce some for our photo section, but they are a bit grainy & may not copy well.
Has anyone else read this-Amanda, perhaps?

dew wrote: "Great list Charlotte. Is anyone familiar with "Sylvia Beach & the Lost Generation" by Noel Riley Fitch? Fitch also wrote a very little book "Literary Cafes of Paris" where he briefly talks about th..."

I have also read Sylvia Beach & the Lost Generation" by Noel Riley Fitch, great book!! I am currently reading The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. Accepting book recommendations :)

Hi Tiffany, I remember how much I enjoyed the Toklas "autobiography". Leave it to Stein to write poor Alice's book for her!
I think you might like Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" as well as "Found Meals of the Lost Generation" by Rodriguez-Hunter. While providing some nice recipes of the time, I found it a good read, as well.
Enjoy!

Here's a link for article on Toklas Illustrated cookbook. Looks like a must-have: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

Now THIS is a find, all courtesy of newsletter@brainpickings.org-
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...
The above link will let you listen to Gertrude stein herself read her "Valentine to Sherwood Anderson"

I guess I considered Kreymborg to be a LG'er because of his association with "Dial" through, I thought, Pound who was the Paris rep. I stand corrected. I see now that he was in Rome then Berlin, not Paris. Is that right? Thanks, Craig!

I believe it was Stein's garage man, in the country, who came up with "LG", no?

Charlotte wrote: "Hi Tiffany, I remember how much I enjoyed the Toklas "autobiography". Leave it to Stein to write poor Alice's book for her!
I think you might like Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" as well as "Found ..."

Charlotte wrote: "Hi Tiffany, I remember how much I enjoyed the Toklas "autobiography". Leave it to Stein to write poor Alice's book for her!
I think you might like Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" as well as "Found ..."

Thanks Charlotte! I will put them on my reading list :)

How great to have so many new and vigorous voices joining this discussion! I'm so interested by all the book suggestions, including some I don't know, like the Kreymbourg (shame on me) or haven't read (Stearns) -- thank you for both, Craig. I'll have to get busy! Charlotte, persevere with Black Sun (the Crosby bio) -- it really is good and tragic as well as kinky, and I think it picks up narrative steam as it gets closer to the ending. Read Moveable Feast with your skepticism (or your Hemingway-corrective lenses) intact: you'll notice that in his character sketches of some people, particularly people who helped him when he was young (like Stein, Fitzgerald, the Murphys, Ford Madox Ford) he likes to make them seem shifty or ridiculous or needy or evil in contrast to his wonderful pure self. It's an unfortunate character quirk, especially in one who writes so beautifully and evocatively about that period (or anything else if he put his mind to it).

Craig, I'm going to have to get a gag order put on you -- you're suggesting way too many fascinating-sounding books for me! Have to see if The Hairpin Duchess is available in my library....

Wow! We are so fortunate to have 2 such authors as Amanda Vaill (Everybody was so Young) & Craig Monk (Writing the Lost Generation) active in our group. Hope all our members have read their books!

It's been a long while since I read that one, but checking my library I found these which I think may be of interest to you: " These Were the Hours", Nancy Cunard's memoirs, "Paris was a Woman" by Andrea Weiss & "Four Lives in Paris" by Hugh Ford (the 2 women in it are Kay Boyle & Margaret Anderson.

Hello to all LG'ers.
Has anyone taken time to check out our photos page? It seems I'm the only one posting pics there. Hope you will look at it, comment & maybe add some of your own photos or those from your LG books.

Never have been a huge fan of short stories (Fitzgerald's aside), but I was sick today and decided to plow through "In Our Time" by Hemingway. All I can say is "wow." Some of those stories are incredible.

What a great way to spend a sick day, Remy.
The very first edition of this book was printed in a limited edition of 170 copies on a 17th century "Mathieu" hand printing press in the offices of Wm. A. Bird, a Buffalonian(NY), located on Quai DAnjou, Ile St. Louis, Paris. Bird insisted the title be lower case and printed in caslon type. He called his press "Three Mountains", after the 3 mountains of Paris: Montmartre, Montparnasse & St. Genevieve.
Although "in our time" was Hemingway's first novel written it was not the first published.
The "Mathieu" was later sold to Nancy Cunard who relocated it to her Normandy farmhouse where it endured, even under the attempted destruction by Hitler's troops.
You can find a rare copy of "in our time" at Abebooks for a mere $36,500.

Here's Hemingway's recorded Nobel prize acceptance speech:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

Another link about young Hemingway's Letters:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

Wondered what you all thought about getting an LG author to donate a book to be given away to a member of our group as part of a discussion about the book? Would appreciate your comments/suggestions.

Charlotte, I just looked at the photos you added, I love them! Thanks so much. :) (I hadnt before b/c I didnt realize there was a photo section. :( )

Thanks for that, Princess! I hope you'll add some of your own.

I saw that too and actually thought it was entertaining. I'm not sure how accurate it is, do you? HBO does love to take liberties. :)

you are right about the film it was terrible, I much prefer the Hemingway in Midnight in Paris

On another topic has anyone read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
By Therese Anne Fowler??
I just ordred it and it seems very cool

I loved Hemingway in Midnight in Paris as well. And I have Z on my list. :) I cant wait.

I read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. I enjoyed it.

I haven't been with the group long but AMANDA(!) how I loved your book! I knew the Murphys before simply as a source of inspiration but developed such fondness and admiration for them while reading their story. Thank you for writing it

Here's a link to the NYT review of "Z" :

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/boo...

Amy -- Hi, and thanks for the shout-out! As for "Z" -- I'm afraid the flap copy and the NYTBR review didn't make me anxious to read it: it seems a little fan-fiction-ish for my taste, and if one's pining for a Zelda fix there's the biography, and her own writing. But I already have too many books in the to-read pile next to my bed, so I have to be a little ruthless about my choices.

Charlotte -- You deserve a medal for jumping in to moderate this group. Don't feel disappointed if people don't join contests or post photos -- some of us may just be readers who want to share our thoughts with other readers, as we would with a real-time reading group; we may not have photos to put up, or the additional time and energy to focus on a contest (and some of us are either overbooked or lazy, or both!). That doesn't mean we aren't truly enjoying the fellowship here. And you have a lot to do with that.

Amanda, your encouraging words are gratefully accepted! It seems an uphill battle & you are right in reminding me that not everyone wants an active part in this group. I do hope that a few more will come forth. Out of 95 members, it seems only a handful are involved. I will persevere! It surprises me that more haven't tried for the book offer. I think it's a sleeper from FSF & belongs in our LG libraries.
Off to Paris in a few days. Shakespeare & Co here I come.

Charlotte - I am not a leader and thank you for being our fearless leader! That said - I just recently joined after deciding about a year ago to focus on classic literature and an obsession with the 1920's and Paris and Hadley and Ernest, F. Scott and Zelda. Currently reading Tolstoy although I did purchase "Z" as soon as it was available for pre-sale and will give it my best shot! I do plan on entering the contest and hopefully will find more time between my children's games and concerts to post a bit more! Keep it up Charlotte!

I was in Paris just about a year ago and a highlight was the Hemingway's first apartment! Enjoy every second - especially the olives and peanuts that seemed in far too plentiful a supply at every cafe :o)

Bon Voyage!

Amy, how sweet of you; many, many thanks. I can't wait to get to Paris. Next week at this time, I will be at the Passy Café watching the world go by.
Tolstoy, wow!. Must be a rather tough read with a family around. Good for you. I haven't decided if I will read "Z".

Cheers!

Here's another interesting piece on "Gatsby":

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100679471

From the Paris Review feed:

More than two thousand papers and other materials from Ernest Hemingway’s Havana estate, Finca Vigia, are being transferred to the Library of Congress.

So far there have been two (2!) entries to win the copy of FSF "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk" Come on, members. All it takes to enter is a question or comment posted here about the author and/or his works. Contest closes June 1st. I will mail the book to the winner, decided by me, as to which is the best comment.

Just posted a rather nice (I think) photo of "Shakespeare & Co" I took while in Paris last week. I encourage all of you to post relevant photos to share. Just click on the photos link on top of this page on right.

this is fantastic: http://theweekendedition.com.au/the-s...

How wonderful! Many thanks.