Just Kids

By: Patti Smith

Narrated by: Patti Smith

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2010

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 42nd 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 60s and 70s 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.

©2010 Patti Smith (P)2011 Patti Smith

Critic reviews

“Smith’s beautifully crafted love letter to her friend Robert Mapplethorpe functions as a memento mori of a relationship fueled by passion for art and writing. Her elegant eulogy lays bare the chaos and the creativity so embedded in that earlier time and in Mapplethorpe’s life and work.” ( Publishers Weekly, Top Ten Books of the Year)

“The most enchantingly evocative memoir of funky-but-chic New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s that any alumnus has yet committed to print.” (Janet Maslin's top 10 books of 2010, New York Times)

“Reading rocker Smith’s account of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, it’s hard not to believe in fate. How else to explain the chance encounter that threw them together, allowing both to blossom? Quirky and spellbinding.” ( People, Top 10 Books of 2010)

wonderful

I loved this book. it was so moving and a great walk down memory lane.

if I could give it 10 stars I would

Beautifully written and beautifully narrated. Changed my life. I don't want to write too much and do it a disservice- just listen to it 💜

Young and pure

Yes. This is one of the best. A living connection to a past purity, an artistic purity and inspiring idealism with real tenderness. Thank you Patti Smith and Robert

5 Star, so tender and touching!!!

Dear, Patti. I just finished Just Kids. I want to thank you for allowing me to get to know you and Robert in such a sweet and deeply personal way. Your words are so raw and vulnerable. I think Robert would be so very proud of you!!

Blown away

I have listened to some extraordinary books, both fiction and nonfiction, over the years. Until now, I have never reached a point where the book ends and I cannot wait to listen to it all over again. Patti Smith‘s daft hand and poetic mind make this experience of being just kids invaluable.

Very interesting

I was amazed by this story - I’d seen some of Robert maplethorpes work at the Whitney years ago and to hear his story was amazing and even more amazing Patti Smiths story too and how they intertwined. Patti is a poet and artist and I loved hearing the story in her voice. The story was honest ,interesting and informative - well written and well read.

Captivating

Patti Smith is an enchanting story teller, inspiring us with the stories of her life shared with Robert Mapplethorp. A gem.

Exquisite in every way

The writing is rich, eloquent, incredibly tender—I had no idea she was such a fine writer. The story of this Hansel & Gretel wandering together through the avant- garde arts scene of 1970s New York is absolutely fascinating and filled with remarkable character sketches of famous and non-famous people. I loved her narration and its measured Philadelphia (I guess?) drawl. The whole book was moving, enchanting, and inspiring to me (I work in the arts myself, though I am closer to Smith’s age now than her age in the book). It astonishes me that some reviewers read a book about young Smith and Mapplethorpe and are mad that they keep calling themselves artists—that is how they became Smith and Mapplethorpe! Cannot recommend highly enough, unless you are going to be stunned and angry that a couple of artsy kids in NYC in the 60s and 70s made art, did drugs (Smith very rarely does, actually), had lovers, and knew others in the scene. It’s an extraordinary book.

Deeply recommend

A beautiful portrait of two beautiful lives in bohemian NYC in the late sixties and early seventies.

Extraordinary

I'd heard many kudos for this book and am adding mine to the long list. An eloquent, hypnotic and insightful read into a unique relationship between artists who knew their gifts long before they were discovered. A loving tribute by Ms. Smith to her lover, friend and co-conspirator, Mr. Mapplethorpe. Her voice, while calm and somewhat droll, enhances the poetry of her words.