From the Making of Americans: Gleanings from the Book by Gertrude Stein

As the title suggests, these are excerpts from Stein's epic novel, long out of print. Few people other than Stein scholars have read it, though it has enjoyed a word-of-mouth reputation. (It was shown in manuscript form to favored guests of the Stein-Toklas abode for years; biannual, marathon readings of the book are still held on New Year's Day in a Soho gallery.) The novel follows the Dehnings and the Herslands, two families of remarkably different backgrounds yoked together by a marriage. But plot isn't what Stein is about. She attempts here to describe ``everyone who ever was or is or will be living.'' Her prose isn't so much tiresome as numbing; but looking beyond the nearly psychedelic repetition and rambling turns of phrase, one finds moments of artful humor and genuine insight. Though perhaps 80% of the text has been cut in this version, the author's inimitable style is maintained. Sorensen writes in the appendix: ``I tried to make among all the books that might be made from sentences in The Making of Americans , the one I most wanted to read myself. (You, you should make your own.)'' A prescription that would be fairer if an unabridged version were available--and if the original were easier to slog through. (July)