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)

A profound love story.

Anyone in the mood for a deeply sweet and inspiring love story between two young artists in 1960’s New York will be ecstatic about this book. If you love poetic language and vivid images, you’ll also get a lot here.

If you’re coping with grief, this is also a possible salve for you.

Patti Smith is a stunning performer, but I didn’t give her narration every star because she mispronounces a fair number of words, and it drives me insane. This is a deep-seated pet peeve of mine which the venerated Smith is not responsible for, but it’s a warning if you feel the same way I do.

Definitely recommended listening for artists!!

Drawlings is my new word for a drawing

Any review critical of Patti use of the term drawling doesn't get it. The tone of her reading is authentic. The name dropping which seems to be offensive to some is not that at all. It is the telling of a story of a world with a cast of characters who have since become household names. Mentioning their names is sparse storytelling because these characters are already defined in our popular culture consciousness.

This story confirms my perception of Patti Smith as a rare rock star who can turn a bar into the just-right context for the expression of high art ideals.

The Sweetness of Patti

Any additional comments?

I loved having Patti read this to us...she is tender and raw at the same time. Artists lead a particular kind of life and she lets us in on the early years of hers and Roberts. Her writing is not about the sensational ...but about all the things that made & make their art speak to us. An honest & beautifully written and read book.

Great tale

Very nice to have it read by patti makes a huge difference. The story is a snapshot of a time from someone who was there. Deeply felt

Good story

It was good to listen to Patti. The book shows her love and friendship with Robert, nothing extraordinary. description of NY in the 70s is great

Poignant, Moving

A beautiful story written with great love and poetic language. Just Kids captures the youthful exploration of life and art in the relationship between Patti Smith and Robert Mappelthorpe.

Spellbinding

Patti Smith paints a beautiful rich portrait of the rise of many of the artists who change popular culture in the 70s . If you love her work you will love this book!

Just kids...

What a lovely tribute to an enduring friendship. Patti smiths poetic bent comes through in her writing. This book made me watch the Mapplethorpe documentary on HBO to learn more.

Deeply touching.

Exquisitely written and wonderfully presented; I was touched and moved by this truly special story.

Wow

I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was a beautiful story of how people can lift each other up told with beautiful writing.