Just Kids
By Patti Smith

Bloomsbury 2010

Just Kids is a privilege to read - and everything that a
good autobiography should be - smart, insightful, poignant, and full of
amazing anecdotes.

Patti Smith writes with a haunted tone, and incredible imagery. Her
youth and journey into adulthood with her first love Robert is captured
with exquisite immediacy. The 60's and 70's was a seminal era in art in
the United States, and the life of artists, singers, writers and muses
bursts forth onto the page, imbued with Smith's identifiable sense of
cool. The insight into Maplethorpe's extraordinary photography, and
Smith's own metamorphosis from dreamer to poet, to priestess, is mapped
with huge attention to detail. Some of the most extraordinary figures
like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol pepper
the pages of this book. A fascinating time to be an artist in America,
and Patti Smith a fascinating sponge - sucking it all up, processing it,
and ultimately laying it down here.

Fans of Smith's won't be disappointed - there are many marvellous
insights into her process as a poet and performer. I personally have
never felt a huge pull towards Smith, but this autobiography had me
under her spell. She is a remarkable writer, and I was hooked from the
very first page. In fact, the first page just about broke my heart.
The rest of the book but my heart back together again.

This book is ultimately a treatise on love, loyalty and friendship, with
a decent whack of rock and roll thrown in for good measure. It stands
alone in its honesty, and its curious mix of naivety and worldliness is
a potent combination. I can't recommend this strongly enough.