Just Kids
by Patti Smith
List Price:
Our Price: $14.13
You Save: $12.87 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.37 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Patti SmithEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2010-01-19
ISBN: 006621131X
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Ecco
Book Reviews of Just Kids
Book Review: As great as one of Patti Smith's live performances.
Summary: 5 Stars
Have you ever awoken from a dream and yearned to tell someone close by all the seemingly concrete details that made so much sense in unconsciousness, but upon consciousness are rendered incomprehensible, even worse, banal when spoken? Or, have you ever had to retreat midway through a story about how interesting a scene or city was to have experienced with that sad qualifying statement: "Well, I guess you had to be there," those blank stares and yawns from listeners way too much to bear?
Well, I have. Patti Smith has not, at least not in the case of her exquisite new memoir, "Just Kids". The difference between me and her is that my attempts to transcend mere description when writing about my past always deflates either into senseless name dropping or banal "my summer vacation essay" style explorations, whereas Smith, in "Just Kids," transcends all the pitfalls of the memoir genre and tells a poignant tale of two struggling artists in the late 60s - 70s in New York City--her and Robert Mapplethorpe--without sounding pompous, pretentious or boring.
It's always the inexplicable that's most interesting. If you strip away what's ineffable about the spirit of a defining period of time you are left mainly with the banal: eating, sitting, hanging out, arguing, making money, paying rent, and so on. That's why memoirs are so difficult to execute and only a talented writer tempered with restraint, such as Patti Smith, can adequately do the genre any justice.
As I was reading "Just Kids" I was continually struck with just how easy this book could have degenerated into a self-absorbed, indulgent tale of bohemianism and name dropping. The story itself is set up to lend itself to this sort of abuse. The fact is that Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe were in New York City during an especially vibrant and exciting time for art and artists and otherwise bohemian types. The beats, rock and roll, which was still relatively new and exciting, Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground: the list goes on: see, I'm name dropping; it's hard not to do!
Instead, Smith uses a contemplative voice to recount her and Mapplethorpe's travails as they both went from two unknown starving artists to the great stars they later became. Where it could have been an appallingly boring story of braggadocio, such as telling the story of their ascendancy from front of the house to the "round table" at Max's Kansas City, instead is done masterfully through Smith's self-depreciation and reluctance.
As much as the reader gets an insight into Robert Mapplethorpe, his personality, sexuality, and art, he still never lets the mystery of his character bleed through, certainly not a two dimensional character. In a way, he's the one holding the reader in suspense throughout the book. This demonstrates just how talented Smith was to carry this off--and how telling! for it was ultimately Smith who never completely came to an understanding of him. For instance, on numerous occasions she states her bewilderment at a finished piece of art, or his subject matter (the gay S&M underworld of New York City, e.g.) or the sudden choices he would make, for instance running off to San Francisco. The true nature of the cohesion in their relationship was not in the things Mapplethorpe did, per se, but in the transparency of the processes behind Mapplethorpe's art and life. Isn't it the processes of an artist that other artists are most drawn to?
In some key ways, the two were very different. He was supremely ambitious and she was content at creating her art in obscurity, at least in the beginning. In a way, she was the grounding figure, ultimately benefiting him with some stability, whereas he was the ambitious figure ultimately benefiting her with some will to achieve. What a perfect match! They were each other's greatest champions! and it's this element that is the most important narrative thread throughout the book. Could they have done it without each other?
Smith's perspective on this fascinating period in New York's art-bohemian scene is insightful. Having an avid interest in this cultural phenomenon, I especially enjoyed it. I am familiar with many of the people who fill these pages and the intimacy with which Smith tells the story brings me closer to their cultural milieu.
In the end, the two (as happens so often in life) drifted apart: not out of transgression, betrayal, loss of interest, but because they were maturing and finding their own ways to carry on the art and life they dreamed of together, that they promised one another they would never abandon. She eventually moved to Detroit to marry Fred Sonic Smith of MC5 and he stayed in NYC.
The last chapter describing Mapplethorpe's death and Smith's presence during it is nothing less than heart wrenching. I knew it was coming, but was not prepared for the impact his death would have on me that afternoon. This is where Smith really shines! Her tender ruminations on the dying and death of her lover and friend, her soul mate, is perfect. She adroitly straddles the line between sentimentality and description masterfully, never letting you stray too far into the sadness of it (as she did not let herself get lost in the despair of his death) while also avoiding mere description, leaving you to perhaps, say to yourself: "Ah, drag," close the book and go on about your business. This book sticks with you.
As a side note: God! how I would have loved being there in New York City at this time! I grew up in North Jersey in the seventies. I was too young to have had access to NYC during most of the period discussed in this book. But, even if I did, I was unlucky to have been a philistine Jersey redneck (which is different than any other redneck, but not necessarily in a good way). I did actually go to NYC often in the late-late 70s and early 80s, but thought it was bohemian enough to walk around the West Village and hang out in Washington Square Park doing whippets until one in the morning. How sad. What a squandered opportunity! Oh well, I guess there's a reason why I went to diesel school, instead. Reading Patti Smith's book, at least, allowed me to live vicariously for awhile.
I also recommend seeing Patti Smith live. She drew blood for us, literally. I will never forget her.
Summary of Just Kids
It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.
Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous?the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years.
Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.
Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2010: Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe weren't always famous, but they always thought they would be. They found each other, adrift but determined, on the streets of New York City in the late '60s and made a pact to keep each other afloat until they found their voices--or the world was ready to hear them. Lovers first and then friends as Mapplethorpe discovered he was gay, they divided their dimes between art supplies and Coney Island hot dogs. Mapplethorpe was quicker to find his metier, with a Polaroid and then a Hasselblad, but Smith was the first to fame, transformed, to her friend's delight, from a poet into a rock star. (Mapplethorpe soon became famous too--and notorious--before his death from AIDS in 1989.) Smith's memoir of their friendship, Just Kids, is tender and artful, open-eyed but surprisingly decorous, with the oracular style familiar from her anthems like "Because the Night," "Gloria," and "Dancing Barefoot" balanced by her powers of observation and memory for everyday details like the price of automat sandwiches and the shabby, welcoming fellow bohemians of the Chelsea Hotel, among whose ranks these baby Rimbauds found their way. --Tom Nissley
Artists, Architects & Photographers Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Artists, Architects & Photographers Books
Wainewright the Poisoner: The Confessions of Thomas Griffiths Wainewrightby Andrew Motion
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2001-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops:
Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism (Crime & Justice: a Review of Research; Crime & Justice: a Review of Research)by John G. Morris
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2002-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.26
Price in other shops:
J. M. W. Turner (Very Interesting People)by Luke Herrmann
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.52
Price in other shops:
An Eye for History: The Paintings of William Henry Jackson, From the Collection at the Oregon Trail Museumby Dean Knudsen
National Park Service; Published: 1998; Paperback; Book
Best price: $38.00
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again)by Andy Warhol
Mariner Books; Published: 1977-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Matisse: A Portraitby Hayden Herrera
Harcourt; Published: 1993-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops:
The Summer of a Dormouseby John Mortimer
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2002-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.47
Price in other shops:
Leonardo: The Artist and the Manby Serge Bramly, Leonardo Da Vinci
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1995-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.70
Price in other shops:
Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artistby Judy Chicago
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigmaby Michael Peppiatt
Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); Published: 1997-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Just Kidsby Patti Smith
Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH; Published: 2010-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.35
Patti Smith - Land (1975-2002)Release date: 2002-03-19; Music CD
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops:
Just Kids CDby Patti Smith
HarperAudio; Published: 2011-07-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $16.45
Price in other shops:
Patti Smith 1969-1976by Judy Linn
Abrams Image; Published: 2011-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.25
Price in other shops:
Patti Smith - HorsesSMITH,PATTI; Release date: 1996-06-18; Music CD
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
Patti Smith Dream Of LifeUniversal Studios; Release date: 2009-01-13; DVD
Best price: $17.25
Price in other shops:
Just Kidsby Patti Smith
Ecco; Published: 2010-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Lifeby Keith Richards
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2010-10-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Patti Smith - Outside SocietyRelease date: 2011-08-23; Published: 2011-08-30; Music CD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Woolgatheringby Patti Smith
New Directions; Published: 2011-11-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.52
Price in other shops: