Two Lives

Starred review from July 16, 2007
In this startling study of Stein and her partner, Alice B. Toklas, acclaimed journalist Malcolm (The Journalist and the Murderer
) puts their relationship in a new light, demonstrating that lives and biographies are not always self-evident. Through careful readings of Stein’s writing, Malcolm makes the case, quoting English professor Ulla Dydo, that Stein’s “lifting words from the lockstep of standard usage” was indeed, the work of a (granted, self-described) genius. Malcolm gets into more controversial territory in exploring Stein and Toklas’s stormy and complicated relationship—fraught with sadomasochistic emotional undercurrents—and their energetic sex life. But her real discovery is that Stein and Toklas—two elderly Jewish women—survived the German occupation of France because of their close friendship with the wealthy, anti-Semitic Frenchman Bernard Faÿ, a collaborator responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Freemasons. Faÿ continually intervened with the authorities on the pair’s behalf. This friendship was so deep that after the war Toklas helped the imprisoned Faÿ escape. Malcolm’s prose is a joy to read, and her passion for Stein’s writing and life is evident. This is a vital addition to Stein criticism as well as an important work that critiques the political responsibility of the artist (even a genius) to the larger world. Photos.

August 1, 2007
Malcolm ("The Journalist and the Murderer") presents a masterful glimpse into the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, whose 40-year relationship is one of the most intriguing of the 20th century. Rather than attempting to include as many details as possible, Malcolm wisely chooses to illuminate the truth of several perplexing questions as thoroughly as any biographer possibly could. The result is a remarkably readable, honest, intelligent, and insightful book in which she reveals some ugly truths about the man who protected Stein and Toklas during World War II and shares her struggles to comprehend Stein's most enigmatic work, "The Making of Americans". Several other Stein scholars disclose their frustrations with Leon Katz, the Columbia doctoral student who in the 1950s discovered Stein's notebooks on the novel and interviewed Toklas extensively. Despite the potential of Katz's work to change the course of Stein scholarship, he has yet to publish it. Malcolm's attempt to interview the elderly Katz ends in failure, and the secrets of the notebooks and the results of the Toklas interviews remain largely untold. Preserving something of the mystery is perhaps exactly what Stein would have wanted. Highly recommended for academic and larger libraries.Anthony Pucci, Notre Dame H.S., Elmira, NY

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
Sparks fly when Malcolm brings her psychological and literary expertiseand strong ethical sense to bear on the work and lives of writers. In her latest smart and zesty bio-critical foray, following Reading Chekhov (2001), she considerstwo easily caricatured yet little understood literary lights, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas. Curious about how this pair of arty Jewish American lesbians survived in the French countryside during the Nazi occupation, Malcolm uncovers thestory of their protector, Bernard Fay, later convicted as a Nazi collaborator. Aidedin her fruitful investigation by a colorful trio of Stein scholars, Malcolm also profiles a researcher who discovered early notebooks of Steins, exhaustively annotated them with the help of Toklas, and refuses to publish. Precise and scintillating, Malcolmoffers original and illuminating analysis of Steins austerely impenetrable work, particularly its submerged autobiography. But thepi'ce de r'sistance is her diviningof the true nature of the relationshipbetween Stein, bright and warm, and Toklas, sour and repellent. Neither the modern genius nor her jealous keeper will ever be seen again as simple cutouts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)