cover image Gertrude Stein Remembered

Gertrude Stein Remembered

. University of Nebraska Press, $45 (197pp) ISBN 978-0-8032-4240-1

Simon (The Biography of Alice B. Toklas) here gathers 20 memoirs of Stein (1874-1946) in a collection that will leave readers bored and agreeing with critic Carl van Vechten's sentiments: ``What is there to say for Gertrude Stein that she does not say quite adequately for herself?'' Several of the pieces, the majority of which have been previously published, are accounts of the Paris salon for artists and writers that Stein and her lover, Alice B. Toklas, conducted. Painter Fran oise Gilot describes a visit to Stein's home with Pablo Picasso, where Gilot intuited that Toklas was angry at Stein's interest in her. Journalist Eric Sevareid recounts calling on Stein and Toklas in 1944, when they were hiding from the Nazis. Included also are reminiscences of Stein's classmates at Radcliffe and a tribute to her writing by Thornton Wilder. Photos not seen by PW. (Dec.)