I am glad I read this, however I do think maybe Stein's prose is not for me. I did find it a bit of a challenge at times but that could be because I am doing a PhD, my day is often full of hard non-fiction writing so maybe this was not the best thing for me to pick up. That being said, I would like to pick up other works by Stein and see if they appeal to me.

This wasn't the easiest book to get through, as they are 26 short writing pieces and they're not really my typical read. I did find trhe writing and the translation to be very nice and readable. It's just the kind of book that takes me longer to read and doesn't pull me back to reading it. This is a me problem, not a book problem.

Many readers have heard of Gertrude Stein, maybe because of Alice or the friendships that she developed with those in the "lost generation," or maybe because of her famous rose quote. But how many have actually read what she has to say?

For everyone, here is a terrific collection of Stein's essays. Some of the pieces are about the well-known, including Matisse, Cezanne and Picasso. A few others are titled Flirting at the Bon Marche, Ladies Voices and Identity of a Poem. I found so many of these to be interesting.

Dip in anywhere. Get to know how Stein thinks.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

**Important note about my rating below...
These stories are... an acquired taste to be sure. Do not skip the introduction by Francesca Wade, otherwise they'll make even less sense.
Many of them are portraits "painted" with words: Avant-garde expressions about famous folks like Matisse and Picasso, luminaries like patron of the arts Mabel Dodge Luhan, and of course about herself and her partner. They're simultaneously flattering and insulting. Think a less accessible surrealist/dadaist Dorothy Parker??

I can see why people were attracted to her, friends with her. There's a very spoken word slam poetry feel to her writing. Ex. Quote from her Picasso story: This one was always having something that was coming out of this one that was a solid thing, a disconcerting thing, a simple thing, a clear thing, a complicated thing, and interesting thing, a disturbing thing, a repellent thing, a very pretty thing. This one was one certainly being one having something coming out of him.

You *might* have noticed a bit of repetition there and it's an integral part of her work. Just as van Gogh's style was most likely influenced by his mental health/substance abuse/poisoning or intoxication from paints - it's been theorized that Ms Stein exhibited symptoms of echolalia/echophrasia*, which is a trait of people on autism spectrum and certainly jibes with her stubborness about not explaining what she was trying to say and her gender expression as well (there's some evidence that gender disphoria is more common for ppl with ASD). Of course, it could simply be because she wanted to give these words more weight and emphasis.

I think that "Flirting at the Bon Marché" is the most accessible, relevant of these works:
Some are coming to know very well that they are living in a very tedious way of living. Some are coming to know very well that they are living in a very dull way of living. These go shopping. They go shopping and it always was a thing they were rightly doing. Now everything is changing. Certainly everything is changing. They go shopping, they are being in a different way of living. Everything is changing.
This critique of the department store still applies to our culture, even intensified as shopping has shifted online, that belief that we can find meaning & identity in our purchases, that feeling that we can change/improve/progress, that we are DOING something by being consumers, being consumed by our thoughts, choices, etc.

I can't help but ask myself the following question, even though I know it's a fruitless exercise - If she were a man, would she have been known primarily as the person who organized the salons in Paris and second for her Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas or would she have been known for her writing first? Would classes be taught on how to recognize and appreciate her genius (like Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald)?

Here are some of my random notes:
I feel there's a secret spy message in here, like if you just remove a word, change the word order, or read it in a mirror or something, you'd understand it. (Portait of Mabel Dodge)

For some reason, I kept thinking of the band King Missile as I was reading, ex. during "Matisse": I am a sensitive artist and for some weird reason when reading the story of her relationship with Alice B Toklas, "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene", I thought of Gary & Melissa. Probably due to the repetition and dischordant sounds.

Two more quotes below, just to give you taste of her work, you can see how the work's quite weird, impenetrable, and perhaps "you had to be there" to get it ...
One was quite certain that for a long part of his being one being living he had been trying to be certain that he was wrong in doing what he was doing and then when he could not come to be certain that he had been wrong in doing what he had been doing, when he had completely convinced himself that he would not come to be certain that he had been wrong in doing what he had been doing he was really certain then that he was a great one and he certainly was a great one. (About Matisse if I remember correctly)

Bargaining is something and there is not that success. The intention is what if application has that accident results are reappearing. They did not darken. That was not an adulteration. (Portrait of Mabel Dodge)

* echolalia = unsolicited repetition of vocalizations made by another person

**Notes on rating
Personal rating = 3* (aka it was thought provoking but I didn't love it and yet as I write this review and really reflect on the thoughts that it evoked, I'm ranking it higher and feeling better about my...
Goodreads rating = 4* until this book has a higher rating than twilight or 50 shades
This was a Netgalley ARC and I ran out of time to read all of the stories before archive, so I only read the first half.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read Gertrude Stein before so was not sure what to expect. The very good introduction by Francesca Wade was very helpful in setting a background for her style of writing. Once I began though I found it a bit of a struggle. It’s certainly playful and clever but I don’t think her writing is for me, just too much repetition.

Between the French-flapped covers of this elegant paperback collection, readers will rediscover Gertrude Stein as the bearer of a joyfully radical literary vision. A bold experimenter, her writing sparks with vitality, relishing in rhythm, repetition, sound and colour in its central vision: to prise apart language and association and find thrilling new ways to express the true essence of her subject with charming joie de vivre.

Stein considered her shorter writings to be the truest expressions of her enrapturing style. Her fascination with people and personalities can be located in expressive portraits of close friends Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Cezanne, Jean Cocteau, and Juan Gris, whilst her decades-long relationship with Alice B. Toklas is immortalised with shimmering eroticism. There are also playful meditations on her unique writing process, conveying her serious delight in meddling with conventions of grammar and composition.

My first time reading Gertrude Stein's works.

Although I am familiar with the life of Gertrude Stein, in particular her sojourn amongst writers and artists in Paris, and her art collecting, I had never actually read any of her work. This was largely due to the labels it has acquired of being experimental and quirky and idiosyncratic. This didn’t seem the sort of writing that would appeal to me. But when this collection of 26 of her short pieces came available on NetGalley I was delighted to have the chance to be open-minded and give her a try. And I soon realised that this is indeed not the sort of writing that appeals to me. Her “joyfully radical literary vision”, as Francesca Wade calls it in her useful introduction left me bewildered and frankly unimpressed. As Wade continues, “It’s impossible….to say what her texts are about.” Quite. So what is the point? Page after page after page of endless endless endless repetition. I’m sure Stein was a fascinating companion and interlocutor, but if this volume is typical of her writing style then I won’t go any further. Experimentation in writing is of course often admirable. Where would literature be without it? But here it seems just a dead end. It made no sense to me. It was tedious to read. I gave up. Thus I am far less generous than other reviewers, but unless someone can persuade me otherwise, Gertrude Stein is not an author for me.

*Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC, this is an honest review*

In the introduction Francesca wade writes, “Stein’s work defies traditional ways of reading. It’s impossible … to say what her texts are about”. That is indeed very true.

The times that I did understand what she was trying to say, what the texts were about, were almost enlightening. It was like being accepted into Stein’s way of thinking and writing. That being said, it rarely happened. I have to admit that I understood very little of this collection.

I did quite enjoy the “portraits”, the way she’s able to write a personality study of someone with just a few phrases and words, mixed and repeated.
The repetition was another thing I found interesting. At times very confusing—but again, the satisfaction of understanding was enjoyable.

Rating this is a little difficult, but based solely on my experience reading this book, I’m giving it 2-5 stars.

Although I naturally knew of Gertrude Stein, until picking up this book I had never read any of her writings, remembering her more as the figure around whom other famous writers and artists gathered. As it turns out from reading this book, that reputation was something she hated, wishing she could be recognised for her own works instead. However, having now read some of her pieces in Every Day is To-Day, I can understand why her wish didn't come true. At university I read Joyce's Ulysses without a single issue, so I am not someone cowed by hard-to-read books, but even I struggled with Stein's prose. The repetition irked me (and it was continuous) and I was frequently rereading sentences multiples times and still struggling to make sense of them. Some pieces I followed better than others, and generally I enjoyed those more, but overall I can't say I loved reading these shorts. Her prose is most definitely an acquired taste and not one that suited my usually eclectic palate. I am glad I read this book to finally dip into Stein's literary works, but having done so, I now know they are not for me. As such I am giving this book three stars; however, those with more modernist tastes in prose may well find it interesting and it is a nicely curated collection.

Fortunately, I read the introduction, otherwise I would have kept wondering how she had become so famous. These short portraits of more or less famous people, are full of words that are repeated and very strange sentences, but the whole thing makes sense, if one is informed beforehand, of the reason for it all.

Per fortuna ho letto l'introduzione, altrimenti avrei continuato a chiedermi come mai lei fosse fosse diventata cosí famosa. Questi brevi ritratti di persone piú o meno famose, sono pieni di parole che si ripetono e di frasi molto strane, ma il tutto ha un senso, se si viene informati prima, della ragione di tutto questo.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Having never read any of Gertrude Stein’s work before I was excited to read these short stories. Her writing style is fascinating, colorful and yes repetitive but so current and insightful. I am thinking specifically of Flirting at The Bon Marche and how it speaks to the tediousness of life and shopping. I loved it. How insightful for today’s world. Her stories of Matisse and Picasso were also amazing because they were part of her bohemian lifestyle and her appreciation of modern art. Her repetition and refrain are often playful. As Stein would want us to do, please keep an open mind and enjoy the world through her short stories. Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #EveryDayIsToday.