Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife
What happened to Gertrude Stein's reputation after she died, and who decided what we would remember.
Francesca Wade’s biography is built around an unusual question: not how Stein lived, but how her legacy was constructed after 1946, largely by Alice B. Toklas and a small circle of executors and scholars. The Paris years and the writing are here, but the real subject is posterity as something people actively make. Wade writes exceptionally well, and the book has been praised on that ground alone.
Recommended by 1 Person
Tyler Cowen
Francesca Wade, Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife. One of the best-written biographies I have read in years. I would not say it is close to my core interests, but if you think you might like it you will.
Source · June 2025
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