About some recently read books

I finished rereading The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein yesterday. The timing was right, because February 3 is Gertrude Stein's birthday. This was her first book to be a bestseller. It is entertaining book, and it is interesting to read about her role in the early days of artists like Picasso and Matisse. She was very good at discerning which artists would make a lasting impression in the art world.

I read Collected Stories of Djuna Barnes recently. I had read some of herstories previously. It is easy to see her influence on the fiction of Anais Nin. It is sad that her writing is not better known today. She wrote in a very original style. The characters in her stories often had unusual names, but that adds to the unique character of her writing. The writing in her stories and other writings were written in a wide range of styles. I would recommend reading at least a few of her books.

I also read collections of lyrics of Lou Reed and Patti Smith: Collected Lyrics 1970-2015 by Patti Smith and Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyric of Lou Reed. The fact that both of these singer/songwriters have backgrounds in poetry is easy to see. I have been a fan of both of them for quite a few years. I prefer hearing their recordings of their songs, but I also enjoy reading their lyrics.