, photographed by
Carl Van Vechten, 1949
Before I Came to Paris Alice B. Toklas, as narrator of the work, tells how she was born into an affluent family in
San Francisco, describing her parents' backgrounds and family history. Later she describes meeting Gertrude Stein's sister-in-law during the fires in the aftermath of the
1906 San Francisco earthquake, and decided to move to
Paris in 1907.
My Arrival in Paris Alice writes about the important role of Hélène, Gertrude's housemaid, in their household in Paris. She mentions preparations for an art exhibition. She discusses
Pablo Picasso and his mistress
Fernande Olivier. Picasso and Fernande end their relationship, and Fernande moves to
Montparnasse to teach
French. Alice and Gertrude visit her there.
Gertrude Stein in Paris, 1903–1907 Alice tells of Gertrude and her brother
Leo Stein buying paintings by
Paul Cézanne and
Henri Matisse from
Ambroise Vollard. They subsequently all become friends. She next discusses spending the summer with Gertrude in
Fiesole,
Italy, while Picasso goes to
Spain. Back in France, Gertrude falls out with
Guillaume Apollinaire. Later, Picasso has an argument with Matisse.
Gertrude Stein Before She Came to Paris Alice tells how Gertrude Stein was born in
Allegheny, Pennsylvania, then moved to
Vienna, to
Passy, and finally to
New York City and
California. She attended
Radcliffe College, where she was taught by
William James. She decided to study for a master's degree at
Johns Hopkins University but dropped out because she was bored, then moved to
London and was bored there too, returned to America, and eventually settled in Paris.
1907–1914 The episode describes the home at 27 rue de Fleurus, noting the layout of the rooms and studio (atelier). Alice tells stories about
Matisse, other artists, and the writer
Apollinaire. She recounts holidays in Italy and Spain with Gertrude. Finally, they move to England on the eve of
World War I to meet with Gertrude's editor, leaving
Mildred Aldrich alone in Paris.
The War Gertrude and Alice begin the war years in England, and then go briefly to France to rescue Gertrude's writings. They then live in Spain for a while, and eventually move back to France. There, they volunteer for the American Fund for the French Wounded, driving through France to help the wounded and homeless. By the end of the war, Paris seems changed.
After the War, 1919–1932 Alice tells of Gertrude's argument with
T. S. Eliot after he finds one of her writings inappropriate. She talks about her friendship with
Sherwood Anderson and
Ernest Hemingway, who helped with the publication of
The Making of Americans. There the couple makes friends with a coterie of Russian artists, but they constitute no artistic movement. Later, Gertrude gives a lecture at
Oxford University. Alice then mentions more parties with artists. Later, they abridge
The Making of Americans to four hundred pages for commercial reasons and devise the idea of writing an autobiography. ==Literary significance and criticism==