The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson: Composition as Conversation

Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson are known as much for their formidable egos as for their contributions to twentieth-century arts.

That either could collaborate intimately with anyone is surprising. Yet Stein and Thomson did work together, magnificently so, most notably on the landmark opera Four Saints in Three Acts and the fanciful The Mother of Us All.

This annotated collection of correspondence reveals the spark that existed between the two American masters over the course of their sometimes rocky friendship.

The roughly 400 letters written between 1926 and 1946 record the fascinating nature of their partnership- their mutual excitement over evolving projects and their process for bringing together two often radical aesthetic sensibilities.

The style of the letters is careful and forceful when the relationship is strained, but most often it is relaxed and affectionate. As a record of friendship, the letters are particularly compelling, replete with love, support, and mutual fascination.

Not surprisingly, the correspondence is stylistically remarkable-Stein being arguably the most innovative literary modernist and Thomson the author of crisp, insightful, irreverent music criticism, the most quoted of his century.

In addition to their artistic partnership, the letters provide a revealing glimpse into their individual careers in the realms of literature and music, as they document a web of mutual friendships and the vibrant artistic community of the early twentieth century.

The editors' notes contextualize this valuable exchange and add a layer of richness and accessibility.

The volume will interest readers, critics, and scholars in music, literature, avant-garde arts, and modern culture more generally.

Author: Thomas Dilworth
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/04/2010
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780195386639

Review Citation(s):
Choice 07/01/2010

About the Author

Susan Holbrook teaches North American literatures and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor. Her poetry books are misled (Red Deer, 1999), Good Egg Bad Seed (Nomados, 2004), and Joy is So Exhausting (Coach House, 2009).

Thomas Dilworth is a Killam Fellow and University Professor in the English Department at the University of Windsor, Ontario. He has published widely on modern literature and romantic poetry. He won the British Council Prize in the Humanities for The Shape of Meaning in the Poetry of David Jones (1988). His recent poems have appeared in Salmagundi, Rampike, Ontario Review, Windsor Review, and Poetry (Chicago).

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