In this long, layered poem, noted scholar Deborah Schnitzer conducts an examination of identity and motherhood by building a discourse around the life and work of Gertrude Stein. In Loving Gertrude Stein, Stein’s life becomes intertwined with that of Schnitzer’s narrator, and the resulting exploration considers the influence and importance Stein’s work has had–not only for the narrator, but for women in general. Both those who have an interest in Stein’s life and work, and those who come to know her through this book, will be rewarded on many levels, not the least of which being Schnitzer’s rich use and mapping of the language that she uses to create a discourse with this venerable icon of women’s literature.