Final answer:
Gertrude Stein is the American author born in 1874, known for living in Paris with Alice B. Toklas, hosting salons for artists and writers, and writing works such as 'Tender Buttons' and 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.'
Step-by-step explanation:
The American author in question is Gertrude Stein. Born in 1874 into an upper-middle-class family in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Stein pursued her education at Radcliffe College and later at John Hopkins Medical School. However, it was her life in Paris, where she lived with her lifelong partner Alice B. Toklas, that she became an influential figure in modernist literature. It was in her Paris home that she hosted a salon for famous artists and writers, playing a significant role in the shaping of 20th-century art and literature.
Stein's literary contributions include works like the experimental collection "Tender Buttons", which focused on exploring the sounds of words over traditional syntax, and "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas", which was actually her own pseudo-autobiography. Stein's impact on literature and her coined term "The Lost Generation" for the post-World War I writers further solidifies her place in American literary history.