Updated
Updated · NPR · Jun 3
Deborah Levy Unveils 1-Month Paris Novel Probing Gertrude Stein's Genius
Updated
Updated · NPR · Jun 3

Deborah Levy Unveils 1-Month Paris Novel Probing Gertrude Stein's Genius

3 articles · Updated · NPR · Jun 3

Summary

  • Deborah Levy’s new novel, “My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein,” follows a writer-narrator who spends one month in Paris trying to grasp Stein’s genius.
  • That search centers on how Stein invented herself and on the dynamics of her relationship with Alice B. Toklas.
  • The book frames its encounter with Stein through a compressed stay rather than a full year, using the narrator’s inquiry to revisit the modernist writer’s legacy.

Insights

Can a fictional quest through Paris reveal more about Gertrude Stein than a traditional biography?
How does a search for a missing cat in modern Paris unlock the secrets of Gertrude Stein's genius?