Gertrude Stein wanted "Ida" to be known in two ways: as a novel about a woman in
the age of celebrity culture and as a text with its own story to tell. With the
publication of this workshop edition of "Ida," we have the novel exactly as it
was published in 1941, and we also have the full record of its creation. Logan E
sdale offers informative critical commentary and judiciously selected archival m
aterials to illuminate Stein's experience of authorship from the novel's beginni
ng in early summer 1937, through the various drafts and negotiations with her pu
blisher, to the reviews that greeted the book's publication. Stein's careful and
systematic preservation of all "Ida"-related materials for her archive at the Y
ale University Library was a conscious decision, and an invitation for us to stu
dy the complexity of her creative process.
