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Three Lives and Tender Buttons

Author Gertrude Stein
Introduction by Diane Souhami
Ebook
$1.99 US
Berkley / NAL | Signet
On sale Feb 04, 2003 | 320 Pages | 978-1-101-49831-6
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies
  • English > Comparative Literature: American > Jewish American Fiction
  • English > Literature > American Literature – 20th Century
  • Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > Jewish Literature and Drama
  • About
  • Author
Three Lives

Three short stories comprise Gertrude Stein’s first significant work, each a psychological portrait of a different woman. “The Good Anna” is a kindly but domineering German servant. “The Gentle Lena” apathetically endures her miserable life until she dies in childbirth. “Melanctha” is a young Black woman learning about sexuality and love. Different as they may be, all three women are bound by poverty—and all three face the restrictions of class, race, and sex with resignation.

Tender Buttons

Stein spoke of maintaining a “continuous present,” comprised of “moments of consciousness,” independent of time and memory. Nowhere is this more clear than in her prose poems Tender Buttons. Their repetitive sentences, juxtaposition of sounds, and simple language connote this continuous presence. To live in this state is “to begin again and again,” to “use everything.” Each of the three sections, “Objects,” “Food,” and “Rooms,” employs both this repetition and disjointed words to build images. Prose poetry at its most abstract expression, Tender Buttons “is to writing…what cubism is to art.” (W.G. Rogers)

Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on February 3, 1874. At Radcliffe College she studied under William James, who remained her lifelong friend, and then went to Johns Hopkins to study medicine. Abandoning her studies, she moved to Paris with her brother Leo in 1903. At 27 rue de Fleurus, Gertrude Stein lived with Alice B. Toklas, who would remain her companion for 40 years. Not only was she an innovator in literature and a supporter of modern poetry and art, she was the friend and mentor of those who visited her at her now-famous home: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, and Guillaume Apollinaire. Her body of work include Three Lives, Tender Buttons, The Making of Americans, and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. View titles by Gertrude Stein

About

Three Lives

Three short stories comprise Gertrude Stein’s first significant work, each a psychological portrait of a different woman. “The Good Anna” is a kindly but domineering German servant. “The Gentle Lena” apathetically endures her miserable life until she dies in childbirth. “Melanctha” is a young Black woman learning about sexuality and love. Different as they may be, all three women are bound by poverty—and all three face the restrictions of class, race, and sex with resignation.

Tender Buttons

Stein spoke of maintaining a “continuous present,” comprised of “moments of consciousness,” independent of time and memory. Nowhere is this more clear than in her prose poems Tender Buttons. Their repetitive sentences, juxtaposition of sounds, and simple language connote this continuous presence. To live in this state is “to begin again and again,” to “use everything.” Each of the three sections, “Objects,” “Food,” and “Rooms,” employs both this repetition and disjointed words to build images. Prose poetry at its most abstract expression, Tender Buttons “is to writing…what cubism is to art.” (W.G. Rogers)

Author

Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on February 3, 1874. At Radcliffe College she studied under William James, who remained her lifelong friend, and then went to Johns Hopkins to study medicine. Abandoning her studies, she moved to Paris with her brother Leo in 1903. At 27 rue de Fleurus, Gertrude Stein lived with Alice B. Toklas, who would remain her companion for 40 years. Not only was she an innovator in literature and a supporter of modern poetry and art, she was the friend and mentor of those who visited her at her now-famous home: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, and Guillaume Apollinaire. Her body of work include Three Lives, Tender Buttons, The Making of Americans, and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. View titles by Gertrude Stein

Other Books by this Author

  • The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated
    The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated
    Gertrude Stein, Maira Kalman
    978-1-59420-460-9
    $30.00 US
    Hardcover
    Penguin Press
    Mar 03, 2020
  • The Geographical History of America
    The Geographical History of America
    Or the Relation of Human Nature to the Human Mind
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82443-1
    $8.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Apr 10, 2013
  • Everybody's Autobiography
    Everybody's Autobiography
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82977-1
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Portraits and Prayers
    Portraits and Prayers
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-83017-3
    $7.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Wars I Have Seen
    Wars I Have Seen
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-83019-7
    $11.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Ida
    Ida
    A Novel
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82271-0
    $7.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Jul 04, 2012
  • Three Lives
    Three Lives
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-14-018184-5
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    May 01, 1990
  • The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
    The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-679-72463-6
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 1990
  • Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein
    Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-679-72464-3
    $22.00 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 1990
  • 3 Lives
    3 Lives
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-394-70153-0
    $7.96 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Vintage
    May 12, 1958
  • The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated
    The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated
    Gertrude Stein, Maira Kalman
    978-1-59420-460-9
    $30.00 US
    Hardcover
    Penguin Press
    Mar 03, 2020
  • The Geographical History of America
    The Geographical History of America
    Or the Relation of Human Nature to the Human Mind
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82443-1
    $8.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Apr 10, 2013
  • Everybody's Autobiography
    Everybody's Autobiography
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82977-1
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Portraits and Prayers
    Portraits and Prayers
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-83017-3
    $7.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Wars I Have Seen
    Wars I Have Seen
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-83019-7
    $11.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Ida
    Ida
    A Novel
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-307-82271-0
    $7.99 US
    Ebook
    Random House
    Jul 04, 2012
  • Three Lives
    Three Lives
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-14-018184-5
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    May 01, 1990
  • The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
    The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-679-72463-6
    $16.95 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 1990
  • Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein
    Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-679-72464-3
    $22.00 US
    Paperback
    Vintage
    Mar 17, 1990
  • 3 Lives
    3 Lives
    Gertrude Stein
    978-0-394-70153-0
    $7.96 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Vintage
    May 12, 1958
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