3. Gertrude Stein: “Hardly One Copy Would Sell” (Arthur C. Fifield)

Despite being one of Stein’s most widely taught novels today, Three Lives was practically impossible to get published at the time it was written. Publishers hated it and even sent mocking rejection letters, like this one:

Dear Madam,

I am only one, only one, only one. Only one being, one at the same time. Not two, not three, only one. Only one life to live, only sixty minutes in one hour. Only one pair of eyes. Only one brain. Only one being. Being only one, having only one pair of eyes, having only one time, having only one life, I cannot read your M.S. three or four times. Not even one time. Only one look, only one look is enough. Hardly one copy would sell here. Hardly one. Hardly one.

Many thanks. I am returning the M.S. by registered post. Only one M.S. by one post.

Sincerely yours,

A. C. Fifield

Even after Stein decided to turn to a vanity publisher (the early 20th century equivalent of self-publishing), she could only afford to print 500 copies, many of which she sent to publishers with the hope that it could become a commercial success. Still, it wasn’t well received. It faced rejections from H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. In 1933, a little more than 20 years later, the celebrity of Stein’s “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” afforded her wider readership and critical acclaim. Today, Three Lives is known as one of Stein’s most approachable works.