Tender Buttons (Annotated)

Tender Buttons is the best known of Gertrude Stein's "hermetic" works. It is a small book separated into three sections: Food, Objects and Rooms each containing prose under subtitles. It is sometimes viewed as a modern classic experimental novel made up of prose poems. While living in Paris, Gertrude began writing for publication. Her earliest writings were mainly retellings of her college experiences. Mabel Dodge promoted Gertrude's works in the United States. Foreshadowing Gertrude's later critical reception, Mabel wrote in "Speculations":