The first publication of "Three Lives" in 1909 marked the beginning of a period of bold experimentation with literary form and language that would characterize our century. In these three stories, Gertrude Stein applies certain theories of prose that parallel the ideas evident in the art of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters. Her characters seem to inhabit a world defined by an aesthetic rather than a social order. The nonlinear narrative of "The Good Anna," for example, is inspired by the works of Cézanne. Stein's friendship with Picasso stimulated her free expression of syntactic repetition to capture the atmosphere and overt sexuality of "Melanctha." Matisse's influence is also evident in "The Gentle Lena," a daring psychological portrait of a woman that emphasizes character development rather than plot and setting. Also included in this edition is "QED," an openly autobiographical narrative, conventional in form, and in many ways an early version of "Melanctha." This recording shows where Stein began and suggests the development she went through independently.