Reading The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas was a new experience for me as I have never read any of Stein's work before. I really liked the stream of consciousness style and that the book felt like a conversation. This style engages the reader more and makes them feel privy to private information. I found it hard to stop in the middle of a chapter because I wanted to see each little "conversation" end and there was really no good stopping point in the middle of a story.
I also think it is interesting how Stein self-promotes herself and her work in this "autobiography" of Alice. At one point she even says that a publisher finally figured out that he should print Stein's own work and not just commentary on it. I have honestly never had an interest in reading Gertrude Stein before but after reading this book I want to look at her poetry. I think many other readers have also felt this way and Stein intentionally put "plugs" for her writing in the work.
Stein's Autobiography can also be read as a memoir of a very interesting time in the world. While some students accused her of name dropping, Stein was just writing about the people she knew. She also included Helene and other "less important" people than Picasso, Matisse, et al. However, by including accounts of everyday interactions with these famous artists Stein shows a different shade of famous men to the world. It helps the reader to understand their art better since they have a deeper understanding of the artists as people. Also, by seeing Stein's interactions with her contemporaries, the reader begins to see that Stein was not just a crazy author who could not grasp simple concepts of grammar but wrote everything a certain way for a purpose.