Useful Knowledge [Paperback]

Gertrude Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2001

Useful Knowledge is pleasant and therefore it is very much to be enjoyed," writes Gertrude Stein in her "Advertisement for this Book"-an apt characterization of the experience of reading it sixty years after its disappearance from print. Despite her long expatriation, she "always remained" in her words, "firmly born in Allegheny Pennsylvania." Indeed- physical detachment from her homeland seems only to have deepened her love for the country, a passion very nearly erotic, that blossomed in this private remembrance that is both tender and humorous. War, Woodrow Wilson, Chicago, Sherwood Anderson-such is the range of her intimate concerns. As for the significant questions to which her writings respond: "Wherein Iowa differs from Kansas and Indiana" and "Wherein the South differs from the North," useful knowledge indeed, when the thought is opened along with the word in these extraordinary prose inventions. Keith Waldrop's introduction furnishes new insight into the process and development of Stein's infamous style as always more intricately evolving than is recognized. And Edward Burns provides "useful knowledge about Useful Knowledge," the kind of information about Stein's text that we rarely find when we most want it

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book was first published in 1928, and most readers will find Stein's writings as difficult now as they did then. Here, as in much of Stein's work, America and Americans are never far from the author's heart: included are geographical essays, "portraits" of Woodrow Wilson and the Robesons, and tributes to Sherwood Anderson and Carl Van Vechten. While Stein's experiments influenced a number of major writers, including Ernest Hemingway, her fame rests more on her discovery of the "Lost Generation" and her position as arbiter of taste in her Paris salon. Still, this volume--available for the first time in 60 years--will be welcomed by Stein enthusiasts and may also attract a select group of new readers.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib.,
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Born on February 3, 1874, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Gertude Stein was an imaginative, influential writer in the twentieth century. The daughter of a wealthy merchant, she spent her early years in Europe with her family. The Steins later settled in Oakland, California. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1898 with a bachelor's degree. While at the college, Stein studied psychology under William James (and would remain greatly influenced by his ideas). She went on to study medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School.In 1903, Gertrude Stein moved to Paris to be with her brother, Leo, where they began collecting Postimpressionist paintings, thereby helping several leading artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. She and Leo established a famous literary and artistic salon at 27 rue de Fleurus. Leo moved to Florence, Italy, in 1912, taking many of the paintings with him. Gertrude remained in Paris with her assistant Alice B. Toklas, who she met in 1909. Toklas and Stein would

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Barrytown/Station Hill Press, Inc. (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581770766
• ISBN-13: 978-1581770766
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,551,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.