The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

“I was born in San Francisco, California. I have in consequence always preferred living in a temperate climate but it is difficult, on the continent of Europe or even in America, to find a temperate climate and live in it.”

The book’s opening sentence introduces Alice B. Toklas, the subject of the autobiography, as a San Francisco native who wishes to find her town’s native climate wherever she goes. The repetition of a clause concerning living in a temperate climate imitates the rhythms of speech, or the patterns of thought, rather than orthodox syntax. This directly plunges the reader into the subject’s thoughts rather than attempting to describe her from the outside.

“I was impressed by the coral brooch she wore and her voice. I may say that only three times in my life have I met a genius and each time a bell within me rang and I was not mistaken, and I may say in each case it was before there was any general recognition of the quality of genius in them.”

Toklas goes from admiring Stein’s exteriority, expressed through her brooch and her voice, to suddenly being struck by her genius. The metaphor of a bell ringing within quiet Toklas’s mind emphasizes the profundity of the instinct that tells her she is in the presence of genius. Her expression “I may say” draws attention to her distinction in perceiving genius before other people, as she subtly shows the reader her discerning taste.

“Before I tell about the guests I must tell what I saw. As I said being invited to dinner I rang the bell of the little pavilion and was taken into the tiny hall and then into the small dining room lined with books. On the only free space, the doors, were tacked up a few drawings by Picasso and Matisse.”

This passage, describing Toklas’s entry into Stein’s house, conveys the author’s (Stein’s) experiential rather than chronological handling of time. The narrator, who is looking into the past, seems to be conscious that the reader wants to hear about Stein’s important guests; however, she implores them to wait because the entryway to the house will tell them about Stein’s character.