You are never yourself to yourself

This chapter begins with an account of Stein sitting for Picasso in 1905–6, and a discussion of her word portraits, before tracing how her art of portrait-writing evolved. It examines The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), Everybody’s Autobiography (1938), Paris France (1940), and Wars I Have Seen (1945). The role of collaboration is explored, as well as how memoir-writing and autobiography implicate others. The chapter explores the aftermath of Stein’s first autobiography, as depicted in her second memoir; her ideas on autobiography and detective stories; the strong influence of visual art and Cubism on her work as an autobiographer; and the dichotomy between the present and the role of memory in all her literary portraiture. Stein’s portrayals of Ford, James, and Lewis are also discussed, as well as her years in Occupied France during the Second World War.