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BABY PRECIOUS ALWAYS SHINES

Name: BABY PRECIOUS ALWAYS SHINES
Author: Gertrude Stein
ISBN: 0-312-19832-9

SELECTED LOVE NOTES BETWEEN GERTRUDE STEIN AND ALICE B. TOKLAS

by Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas & edited by Kay Turner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1999

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The domestic correspondence between Mr. Cuddle-Wuddle (Stein) and Baby Precious (Toklas) reveals the inner hearts and inner workings of the 20th century’s most famous lesbian marriage. Over their 39 years together, Stein and Toklas left little notes to each other, snippets of poetry and passion which, awash in love and devotion, commemorate the pair’s daily doings. Rife with affection and candor, Stein’s late-night scribblings to her beloved touch upon the heights of their love; its nether-regions, however, are also adumbrated when Stein, for example, comments (all too often) upon the frequency and consistency of Toklas’s bowel movements. Other fragments touch with endearing frankness upon their sex lives, as when Stein self-consciously whips up her phallic pen to fill Toklas with carnal pleasures. A London honeymoon, the pressures of the world wars, flowers, and cigarettes decorate these valentines with the quotidian aura of their lives, and even when the occasional tiff looms, one can hardly doubt the sincerity of the affection described. Photographs, sketches, shipping labels, and receipts, which are printed alongside the notes, round out this intimate view into the women’s lives. For scholars of Stein, the giddy wordplay of the notes illuminates her previously published work as well as the details and desires of her life. Though this collection holds obvious interest for both Stein’s fans and scholars, it offers only approximately one-third of the extant 312 notes (295 of them from Stein, 17 from Toklas) with no annotations to complement Turner’s brief introduction. Though it is somewhat jarring to adjust one’s perception of Gertrude Stein to include her alter ego Mr. Cuddle-Wuddle, the effort provides many warm examples of her genius and her heart. The collection makes a convincing case for Toklas’s assertion that “notes are a very beautiful form of literature”—personal, provocative, and tender.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-312-19832-9

Page Count: 176

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A LITTLE CALLED PAULINE
by Gertrude Stein ; illustrated by Bianca Stone

- BOOK REVIEW
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS ILLUSTRATED
by Gertrude Stein ; illustrated by Maira Kalman

- BOOK REVIEW
PARIS FRANCE
by Gertrude Stein

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.