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The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas

Illustrated Edition

Gertrude Stein Maira Kalman

$59.95

Hardback

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English
Penguin Press
03 March 2020
An illustrated edition of Gertrude Stein's most well-known work, The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas. Bursting with the bright, sophisticated and fanciful images of artist Maira Kalman.


Considered one of the richest and most irreverent biographies in history, The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas was written by Gertrude Stein in the style and voice of her life partner, Alice B Toklas.

Published in 1933 and narrated by Alice, this autobiography begins when Alice moves to France in 1907. The very next day she meets Gertrude, sparking a relationship that lasts for nearly four decades.

Recounting the vibrant and literary life the two make for themselves among the Parisian avant-garde, Alice opens the doors to the prominent salons they held in their home at rue de Fleurus, hosting fellow expatriate American writers such as Ernest Hemingway, T S Eliot and Ezra Pound, as well as artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Man Ray, and speaks of the twilight of the Paris belle epoque.

In this edition, the wildly talented Maira Kalman brings this glittering Parisian world to life and celebrates Stein and Toklas in vivid colour. Her whimsical and inimitable illustrations complement the wit and humour of Stein's narrative, elevating the exciting intrigues of these famous women and their friends. Inviting readers to experience this book in a completely new way, the illustrated edition of The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas will prompt a contemporary reading of this cherished and singular classic.

By:  
Illustrated by:   Maira Kalman
Imprint:   Penguin Press
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 243mm,  Width: 164mm,  Spine: 36mm
Weight:   970g
ISBN:   9781594204609
ISBN 10:   1594204608
Pages:   320
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Maira Kalman is an illustrator, author, and designer. She is the author of Beloved Dog, And the Pursuit of Happiness and The Principles of Uncertainty, and the illustrator and co-author of Cake. She is the illustrator of Michael Pollan's Food Rules and the bestselling edition of William Strunk and E. B. White's The Elements of Style. Kalman's work is represented by Julie Saul Projects in Manhattan. 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.

Reviews for The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas: Illustrated Edition

Whimsical illustrations meet quirky prose in this tag-team reinvention of the iconic 1933 book. An award-winning New Yorker illustrator, designer and author, Kalman takes on the challenge of illustrating Stein's iconic 'auto' biography of her longtime companion Toklas . . . Kalman's 70-plus color illustrations, rendered in her distinctive playful and Fauve-esque style, perfectly reflect the artistic and intellectual world of Paris in the 1920s and '30s . . . A sparkling, imaginative rendition of a literary classic. - Kirkus, starred review


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