Literary Cubism - Geography and Plays - Selected Works of Gertrude Stein

Book excerpt: Gertrude Stein was at heart an artist's writer. She became well-known to the literary mainstream with "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas," and was at her most accessible with her speech and autobiographical writing of her later years. It is with collections such as "Geography and Plays," however, that Stein showcased the possibilities of the English language to transcend beyond literature into the realm of modern art. The page was her canvas, and as the Cubist painters of her time treated their subjects, Stein re-assembled words in an abstracted form to present them in a greater context, a context un-tethered by a singular viewpoint. This modern edition contains a massive collection of over 50 different works by Gertrude Stein. In addition to the daring and cheeky "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene," this revitalized edition contains many of her most radical and influential works. There is "Ada," one of Stein's many word portraits of famous personages, this one written of Alice B. Toklas. There is "Every Afternoon: A Dialogue," a conversation between two unnamed people highlighting the writer's playful, often humorous style. Also included is "Sacred Emily," in which the reader finds Stein's most often quoted line, "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose," a line that employs her trademark use of repetitive language to express that things are what they are, but at the same time, so much more. In Stein's view, the simple naming of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it-the writer does not need to manipulate the word any further.