Everybody's Autobiography

VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, March 1973

Copyright © 1937 by Random House, Inc.
Copyright renewed 1964 by Alice B. Toklas

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York. Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published by Random House, Inc., December 2, 1937.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Stein, Gertrude, 1874–1946.
  Everybody’s autobiography.

  Reprint of the 1937 ed.
  I. Title.
[PS3537.T323Z53 1973]       818′.5’209 [B]
eISBN: 978-0-307-82977-1

                                                        72–8694

v3.1

Contents
 

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

1. What happened after The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

2. What was the effect upon me of the Autobiography

3. Preparations for going to America

4. America

5. Back again

About the Author

Alice B. Toklas did hers and now everybody will do theirs.

Alice B. Toklas says and if they are all going to do theirs the way she did hers.

In the first place she did not want it to be Alice B. Toklas, if it has to be at all it should be Alice Toklas and in the French translation it was Alice Toklas in French it just could not be Alice B. Toklas but in America and in England too Alice B. Toklas was more than Alice Toklas. Alice Toklas never thought so and always said so.

That is the way any autobiography has to be written which reminds me of Dashiell Hammett.

But before I am reminded of Dashiell Hammett I want to say that just today I met Miss Hennessy and she was carrying, she did not have it with her, but she usually carried a wooden umbrella. This wooden umbrella is carved out of wood and looks exactly like a real one even to the little button and the rubber string that holds it together. It is all right except when it rains. When it rains it does not open and so Miss Hennessy looks a little foolish but she does not mind because after all it is the only wooden umbrella in Paris. And even if there were lots of others it would not make any difference.

Which does remind me of David Edstrom but I have been reminded of him after I was reminded of Dashiell Hammett.

It is very nice being a celebrity a real celebrity who can decide who they want to meet and say so and they come or do not come as you want them. I never imagined that would happen to me to be a celebrity like that but it did and when it did I liked it but all that will come much later. Anyway I was a celebrity and when I was at Pasadena Mrs. Ehrman whom I had met at Carl Van Vechten’s in New York asked us to come over to Beverly Hills and dine with her. Whom did we want to meet. Anybody she liked, she said she would get Charlie Chaplin and the Emersons and some others not more than twelve in all would that do. Yes and Alice Toklas hung up.

Later on in the day I never get up early I get up as late as possible I like not to get up in the morning and no one ever wakes me anyway I was told about it and was pleased, then suddenly the next day I said but I did want to meet Dashiell Hammett and somebody in New York said he was in California.

I never was interested in cross word puzzles or any kind of puzzles but I do like detective stories. I never try to guess who has done the crime and if I did I would be sure to guess wrong but I like somebody being dead and how it moves along and Dashiell Hammett was all that and more. So Alice Toklas rang up Mrs.