Tender buttons : objects
(Book)

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. Tender Buttons is one of the great Modern experiments in verse. Simultaneously considered to be a masterpiece of verbal Cubism, a modernist triumph, a spectacular failure, a collection of confusing gibberish, and an intentional hoax, the book is perhaps more often written about than actually read. Divided into three sections- Objects, Food, and Rooms -the book contains a series of descriptions that defy conventional syntax.

Delighting in the sound and rhythm of words, "Objects" (the first section of Stein's extended poem, published in 1914) runs playful linguistic circles around teacups, ribbons, umbrellas, and other quotidian artifacts. This new edition pairs Stein's avant-garde verse with Lisa Congdon's whimsical illustrations.