Just Kids

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In Just Kids, Patti Smith s first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never before seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her formidable body of work from her influential 1975 album Horses to her visual art and poetry. Best Read Books Just Kids author Patti Smith – kino-fada.fr I never thought much about Patti Smith The images I saw of her never attracted me, and what I knew of her Rimbaud fixation turned me off I always had a problem with the Beat and Punk appropriation of Rimbaud asa figure of rebellion than a sophisticated poet For me poetry is a phenomenon of the page, not an outfit you wear down the street I also never got into Punk Rock Going to college in the fall of 1983 I had probably only heard of The Sex Pistols, though I had never listened to the I never thought much about Patti Smith The images I saw of her never attracted me, and what I k...Stayin up for days in the Chelsea Hotel Just Kids makes me feel so damn left out If only I had been able to show up at the Chelsea in the early 1970s I coulda been a contender, I could have lived for art Oh yes, I would have been very na ve just like Patti had been at first I totally get that I don t think I could have been as brave tho Art is a harsh mistress Suddenly Robert looked up and said, Patti, did art get us I looked away, not really wanting to think about it I do Stayin up for days in the Chelsea Hotel Just Kids makes me feel so damn left out If only I had been able to show up at the Chelsea in the early 1970s I coulda been a contender, I could have lived for art Oh yes, I would have been very na ve just like ...Looking For You I Was I can see why some reviews detect white washing or sugar coating in Just Kids , but I wanted desperately to believe the story Patti Smith was telling about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.Glitter in Their EyesPatti admits to her naivete, but I don t think she was trying to hide stuff from her kids or anything.Nor do I think she closed off her emotions about her past.Ultimately, the book is a love story, only the love extended over a long period, and sometimes it Looking For You I Was I can see why some reviews detect white washing or sugar coating in Just Kids , but I wanted desperately to believe the story Patti Smith was telling about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.Glitter in Their EyesPatti admits to her naivete, but I don t think she was trying to hide stuff from her kids or anything.Nor do I think she closed off her emotions about her past.Ultimately, the book is a love story, only the love extended over a long period, and sometimes it was requited, sometimes not.Just KiddingLots of things got in the way, sexuality for starters, drugs for main course, other partners for dessert.But the book is about a love that they shared, and a youth that they both retained the whole of their lives, no matter what happened on the inside or the outside and no matter how poor or successful they were.The name of the book asserts her belief that all that time they really were just kids , those two kids that the...There are some moments of real poignancy here and some very deft turns of phrase, but I was also just bored stiff for most of it Clearly Smith has led a really interesting life, but she s just not a great writer The great bulk of the book was a long series of Then this happened Then that happened Then Robert did this Then I did that And while there is a lot of reflection about art, there is very little on the subject of her relationship with Mapplethorpe, supposedly the purpose of writin There are some moments of real poignancy here and some very deft turns of phrase, but I was also just bored stiff for most of it Clearly Smith has led a really interesting life, but she s just not a great writer The great bulk of the book was a long series of Then this happened Then that happened Then Robert did this Then I did that And while there is a lot of reflection about art, there is very little on the subject of her relationship with Mapplethorpe, supp...I admire this woman She writes a deft, deeply felt prose She has a peerless memory She remembers gestures, apparel worn thirty years ago, favorite objects, facial expressions, stretches of dialog She can reanimate for us moments of deep emotional complexity This was clearly a labor of love The character study of Robert Mapplethorpe is disturbing, shattering We watch Smith living with him as a veil is lifted from her awareness, as her empathy broadens and she carries the reader along with I admire this woman She writes a deft, deeply felt prose She has a peerless memory She remembers gestures, apparel worn thirty years ago, favorite objects, facial expressions, stretches of dialog She can reanimate for us moments of deep emotional complexity This was clearly a labor of love The character study of Robert Mapplethorpe is disturbing, shattering We watch Smith living with him as a veil is lifted from her awareness, as her empathy broadens and she carries the reader along with her This is memoir as maelstrom, cataclysmic in its effect There sthan sufficient foreshadowing We know that Robert will die Yet one still finds oneself grabbing futilely for the gunwales, whirling ever faster, ever downward and inward.The book reminds me of Jean Stein and George Plimpton s Edie American ...4.5 StarsIt was the summer Coltrane died The summer of Crystal Ship Flower children raised their empty arms and China exploded the H bomb Jimi Hendrix set his guitar in flames in Monterey AM radio played Ode to Billie Joe There were riots in Newark, Milwaukee, and Detroit It was the summer of Elvira Madigan, the summer of love And in this shifting, inhospitable atmosphere, a chance encounter change the course of my life It was that summer when Patti Smith met Robert Mapplethorpe Ju 4.5 StarsIt was the summer Coltrane died The summer of Crystal Ship Flower children raised their empty arms and China exploded the H bomb Jimi Hendrix set his guitar in flames in Monterey AM radio played Ode to Billie Joe Th...This book is remarkably easy to parody Here, I ll try I was crossing Tompkins Square Park when I ran into a young man wearing a gabardine vest He smiled at me and called me Sister It was a young George Carlin Robert hated him because he frequently had flakes of rye bread in his beard, but I loved how he could make me laugh with his impressions of Mick Jagger On this morning, though, we wept together at the news that Paul McCartney would have to sell his house in Cannes It was a sort of This book is remarkably easy to parody Here, I ll try I was crossing Tompkins Square Park when I ran into a young man wearing a gabardine vest He smiled at me and called me Sister It was a young George Carlin Robert hated him because he frequently had flakes of rye bread in his beard, but I loved how he could make me laugh with his impressions of Mick Jagge...I loved this book I did not want it to end To be honest, I did not know much about Patti Smith other than her music When the book initially came out, I heard so many wonderful things about it I thought I should give it a shot But frankly, I was a bit tired of the musician bio books as some were just so dreadful I was so wrong to think that and hold off on this book.I decided to go with the audio I was immediately enthralled with it The audio is narrated by Smith and she does an incredi I loved this book I did not want it to end To be honest, I did not know much about Patti Smith other than her music When the book initially came out, I heard so many wonderful things about it I thought I should give it a shot But frankly, I was a bit tired of the musician bio books as some were just so dreadful I was so wrong to think that and hold off on this book.I decided to go with the audio I was immediately enthralled with it The audio is narrated by Smith and she does an incredible job Who else to read the story of her life other than the one wrote it and lived it.Just Kids tells the story of Patti growing up and following her desires to go to NYC and grow and become an artist She tells o...Hi Ho, the artistic life I had very divergent feelings about Just Kids, Patti Smith s National Book Award winning memoir about her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe There were times that I felt moved by the beauty of her writing, and others in which I found her to be nothingthan another spoiled, entitled kid who got where she got to, talented or not, because of connections It is not that Smith arrived in NYC with a list of names and numbers But she did have the good fortune to encoun Hi Ho, the ...I found this book incredibly boring It started off ok, but after a bit her writing style began to get on my nerves examples using the word for instead of because, as in I went to the diner, for I was hungry and I hadn t any money instead of I didn t have any money and I lay upon the mattress instead of the simpler, just fine, I lay on, ugh Pretentious Then she goes on and on and ON ...

Just Kids
  • English
  • 24 October 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 304 pages
  • 006621131X
  • Patti Smith
  • Just Kids