Amazon.com Review
A rose is a rose is lifting belly is Gertrude Stein, a loving one. If you've read Stein before, you have probably heard the term "stream-of-consciousness." This erotic lesbian love poem is also a stream of pleasure and of love. Rebecca Mark's excellent introduction helps unravel some of the wonderful wordplay that Stein employs. Lifting Belly is a book to read aloud to someone who's your passion. Alone. In a romantic setting. Have some wine handy.
From Publishers Weekly
Often considered the central erotic work of Stein's middle period, this love poem written to her longtime companion, Alice B. Toklas, reveals a vulnerability and tenderness unexpected of one so famous for caustic wit. Associative in structure, the work consists of alternately cryptic and conversational fragments detailing a shared domestic life. A very brief initial section observes the hardships of gay estrangement from society, while the body of the work applauds the decision to endure these for love's sake. Readers will welcome an unusual view of Stein in this first trade edition of a signal work in which "lifting belly"--signifying sexual union--comes to imply passionate commitment to another and acceptance of oneself. Mark is a professor of literature at Tulane University.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
