Summary

Chapter 4, “Gertrude Stein Before She Came to Paris.” In the fourth chapter of the book, the narrator once again steps backward in time to relate the early life of Gertrude Stein. Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to a respectable middle-class family. "She always says that she is very grateful not to have been born of an intellectual family, she has a horror of what she calls intellectual people".

Gertrude's parents lived in a twin house that adjoined to her father's brother's family's home, and due to an estrangement of the two sisters-in-law, the brothers broke up their business partnership and split ways. One brother went to New York, while Gertrude's family moved to Europe. They lived in Vienna until Gertrude was three years old, and then moved to Paris. The family lived in Paris for one year...