The Lost Generation

Interviewer: Do you mind if we ask you about Gertrude Stein's (1874-1846) remark, “You are all a lost generation”?

Cowley: Oh, it's simple as all get-out. Gertrude Stein was having her Model-T Ford repaired at a garage in the south of France. The mechanics weren't very good; they weren't on the job—in fact, I think they were on strike. The proprietor said to Miss Stein, “These young men are no good—they are all a lost generation”—une génération perdue. So an unknown French garageman should get credit for that remark. Of course, Miss Stein deserves credit for picking up on the phrase.

... Malcolm Cowley (1898-1989), Noted American writer and critic.