If we consider the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas to actually be a biography of Gertrude Stein, how does Stein construct herself in relation to Toklas, her “proximate other”? If we consider the book as a biography of Alice B. Toklas, how is her identity constructed in relation to Stein? Can the book be understood as really being about one or the other?

To what extent do we trust that this biography is written in Alice’s voice? How is this different from autobiography “As told to…” Certainly Stein and Toklas have a closer relationship and know each other better than Alex Haley and Malcolm X, but should we similarly examine each’s agendas in the telling of their times, the way we did for the Autobiography of Malcolm X?

The narrator Alice often reports Stein’s judgements about art and artists in their salon. What is the significance of reporting one’s opinions through the voice of one’s partner? Does Alice become a translator of Stein, as if the enigmatic and challenging Stein could be understood best through the eyes of somebody who loves her? Or are Alice’s identity and voice being borrowed by Stein as a vehicle for self-praise and opinions?

Stein and Toklas arguably take on social roles of Genius (Author) and Genius’s Wife (Secretary, Editor) (and Muse?) In what ways does this dynamic undermine and/or reinforce sexist gender roles? How does the indeterminacy of the author inform our understanding or blur the boundaries of the gender dynamic of their relationship?