Wade’s superb new book...is the biography of both a woman and a reputation. The biography of the woman has been written several times already, though perhaps never so stylishly. The biography of the reputation is in large part fresh. Both are a pleasure to read ... Wade has a sense for character and an eye for detail, and in the first part of Gertrude Stein, she paints a vivid portrait of her striving, grasping subject ... The revelations in Gertrude Stein are exciting, but perhaps even more gripping are the characters the book brings so vividly to life.
The structure...allows its readers to understand something that usually goes unmentioned in literary biographies. A writer is not merely the sum total of known events that occurred to her between birth and death, she is also the network of readers created by her work during that period and afterward ... When Wade is confronted by writing she doesn’t understand, curiosity rather than resentment wins the day ... The superiority of Wade’s approach can be measured by the insights into Stein’s work that she gleans from it ... Thoughtful and thorough, with insightful interpretations of her work embedded in a compelling narrative of her and Toklas’s life, Wade’s biography makes a convincing case that, while her status as a cultural figure is secure, her writing remains, if anything, underrated.
Judicious ... The first half, a vivid but condensed account of her life, doesn’t break much new ground ... Wade’s measured sympathy for Toklas redeems her from pathos by treating her not as a casualty but as a stoic.
Impressive ... As an experiment in biography, it is strikingly accomplished; as a tale of literary intrigue, it is utterly compelling ... Wade is skilful at sifting through quantities of material and finding illumination in the ephemeral and the everyday ... Wade approaches such contradictions with openness, and the Stein that emerges for her is eccentric, flawed, vulnerable and funny ... Rich and moving.
Graceful, exacting ... I was thinking, as I read Wade’s book, is why biography is usually so frustrating. There is too much uncertainty, not only about facts but about the meaning of those facts. Wade’s book is excitingly different, because it is written not from a position of judgment but from a kind of accurate friendliness ... Explores Stein’s biography not for explanations, but in order to better enjoy the pleasure of her sentences as a kind of physical delight.
If you want to construct a case against Stein, then Wade provides the evidence you need – it’s just that she layers much contrary and clashing evidence alongside it. An openness to such clashes is foundational to her project ... If, as Wade says, this book is a kind of detective story, it belongs to the noirish Californian sub-genre, full of proliferating evidence and thickening plot ... Wade has written a risk-taking biography whose scope extends far beyond even its gargantuan subject. Someone says yes to it.
Wade’s elegantly written two-part study of Gertrude Stein takes her far more seriously than her muddled prose warrants ... I cannot say that I really enjoyed this book. Wade takes Stein seriously at all times, and this is silly.
Thoughtful and deeply researched ... It is not until page 204, following Stein’s death from cancer in 1946, that Wade embarks on the more interesting and original aspects of her investigation ... If Wade had written a shorter and more focused investigation of Stein’s posthumous reptuation, perhaps it would have showcased her achievement to even better effect.
Readable and illuminating ... The stories of Stein’s professional success and the intimate details of her domestic and sexual life are equally interesting, and both are well told ... Wade’s biography is a fine introduction to the riches of Stein’s formidable output, and an encouragement to those unfamiliar with this terrain to travel further..
Invigorating ... Juicy if at times unsettling ... Without Toklas, Stein would not have been whole either. The full story of their love affair can only now be told, uncensored, in an afterlife that Wade captures so vividly here.
The strength of part one lies in Wade’s careful scrutiny of Stein’s letters and her attention to Stein’s investment in her own reputation ... There is a second part to Wade’s tale, and that section complicates all that we’ve read in part one. If the first part reads as a Stein-sanctioned biography, then the second is the more salacious, unauthorized biography that incorporates a broader set of sources to tell Stein’s tale ... Wade has written a book that shows the importance of afterlives.
Tremendous...I was so exhilarated and intrigued ... Especially impressive ... Wade...engages, critically, creatively and respectfully with Stein’s work.
Wade introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters ... Wade’s careful scholarship and propulsive narrative offer readers an intellectually engaging experience. It is a joy to watch Wade fit the pieces of Stein’s life into place.
