Cover of Three Lives & Tender Buttons

Three Lives & Tender Buttons

by Gertrude Stein · 2003

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This volume gathers three long stories, each a close study of a different woman, along with a separate set of prose pieces. Each portrait is built from the inner lives of its subjects, their habits, hopes and quiet frustrations, rather than from a conventional plot. The stories move slowly and repeat their phrasing on purpose, creating a rhythm that asks readers to pay attention to small details. The second part, Tender Buttons, is made of brief poetic prose on everyday objects, rooms and food, playing with language in an unusual way. Together the pieces show an experimental side of modern American writing.

Genre
literary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of this
Themes
womenwomenMore like thisLess of this
Setting
2000s2000sMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 320 pages
Form
poetrypoetryMore like thisLess of thisshort storiesshort storiesMore like thisLess of this

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