The literary theories of American expatriate Gertrude Stein (18741946) strongly influenced a generation of young American writers (notably Hemingway), and her ideas about writing still provoke and stimulate.
The three lives represent three unsuccessful stages of development of self-awareness, not culminating in fulfillment. Stein embodies these stages in fully-drawn characters, and then immerses these protagonists in detailed renderings of their social scene, peopled by vivid minor characters.