Preview
  • Just Kids

  • By: Patti Smith
  • Narrated by: Patti Smith
  • Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (5,090 ratings)

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Just Kids

By: Patti Smith
Narrated by: Patti Smith
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Editorial reviews

In 1989, just before famously controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe died too young of AIDS complications at age 42, he made his very best friend promise to tell their story. Patti Smith took many years to do it, but the incredible result, Just Kids has proven well worth the wait. Winner of the National Book Award, Smith's delicate tribute to her relationship with Mapplethorpe and their love affair with New York City is read by Patti Smith herself.

No one else could narrate this, and no one else could have written this. After Smith ditched college to move to New York in 1967, a chance encounter in which Mapplethorpe saved her from an expectant date by pretending to be her angry boyfriend touched off one of the most historic artistic partnerships the city had ever seen. Embarking at first as lovers, they clung to their art and each other through poverty and misfortune in the late-60s, moving steadily closer to the center of cultural influence in the 70s. Mapplethorpe struggled with coming out of the closet and Smith struggled to find an artistic medium that suited her best. Together, they swam through everything that made New York great and terrible, each eventually emerging as a pioneering independent spirit that to this day knows no equal.

Smith's voice as both the writer and the narrator is simply unimpeachable. Reflective and soft-spoken, she humbly attempts to capture two decades of this inspirational partnership. Listeners can tell she is thinking through every image she has written here, pausing occasionally to let it sink in for herself or to let the dialogue get caught in her throat. By turns haunted and poetic, by turns silly and sarcastic, Smith trips along these enchanting bits of history in a way that is utterly endearing. It's not at all like inviting somebody famous to entertain you with gossip at dinner. Real respect must be paid. Listeners will be in awe of the fact that Patti Smith comes across as a totally normal person who stumbled into an extraordinary life. Even if you've already passed totally engrossed through the hard copy of this book, to hear it from Patti Smith's own mouth is simply an otherworldly experience. This audiobook is an essential companion to the text that will not only bear repeated listening, but will beg for it. Megan Volpert

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)

Featured Article: Moving Listens About the AIDS Epidemic


The AIDS crisis is a devastating part of history that should never be forgotten. The epidemic led to the death of more than 25 million Americans and contributed to the health struggles of countless others. The audiobooks on this list confront the harsh, heartbreaking realities of the AIDS epidemic. Each of these listens helps commemorate a dark part of our nation’s history and honor those who lost their lives to the bigotry that built barriers to treatment and care.

What listeners say about Just Kids

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A Beautiful Journey of Love, Art and Fame in NYC

Any additional comments?

As an admirer more than a fan of Patti Smith and Mapplethorpe, I was continuously struck by the chance crossings, first of their lives, and then with others over years that linked so many heroes of music, art and literature. Just Kids is a beautiful book made more touching by her voice, retracing a charmed journey that seems too improbable to be true. It is a powerful love letter as well as a stark history of what NYC took and gave in ways that, for good and for bad, it no longer does.

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Beautiful

What about Patti Smith’s performance did you like?

Patti Smith's performance matches her poetic telling of her very personal story. I never appreciated her more than I do now having just finished Just Kids.

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One of my all time favorites

I'm just simply in love with this beautiful book.

Thank you so much, Patti Smith ❤️

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interesting life story

Narrator was passionate in telling her story. The book has a good note of humor.

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Inspiring, riveting cannot quit!

Where does Just Kids rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the best audio book I have ever listened to. I listen to a lot...I want to purchase the actual book, and reread some of the passages and peruse the photos.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Patti Smith's vulnerability, intelligence and honesty make everything she writes about fascinating, tangible and tantalizing. She is the sort of person with whom you would love to have a coffee, see a film, sleep in the park. She is a treasure and a joy.

What about Patti Smith’s performance did you like?

Her poignant honesty.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Just kids...just real...just stranger than fiction.

Any additional comments?

This is an amazing story...so real and so true.

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A love story about friends, art, and literature.

If you could sum up Just Kids in three words, what would they be?

Love, friendships, culture,and success.

What did you like best about this story?

The growth of Robert and Patti's friendship/love story in the 60s,in NYC.

Any additional comments?

There were so many interesting people that shaped their journey.

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Fantastic audio book!!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Oh yeah, it's a love story that also describes the art/poetry/music scene at the time, what's not to like?

What did you like best about this story?

Patti's delivery

Which scene was your favorite?

Not one in particular, it was a series of threads in life that fit together beautifully

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end of the book made it all hit home

Any additional comments?

I had this in my library for some time and I was hemming and hawing about reading it and I now have a newfound appreciation for Patti and Robert. I wasn't so much into Patti prior but I loved Robert's work and this book explodes their partnership and Patti's poetry, which is the core of her essence. Wow, Patti, no one could not have written a better account than what you did and your vocal presence is incredible. You are now one of my favorite writer/poet/musicians!!!

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Interesting

The only thing I missed was seeing pictures. I really enjoyed the fact that Patti Smith read it herself.

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Because the night belongs to lovers...

Because the night belongs to lovers.....what a great story of Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe. Narrated by Patti Smith.
My uncle wanted this book. After a long talk on the phone about it, I checked it out. Quite an inspiring story of 2 people thru the years in NYC....different avenues of life... homeless scene, art scene, gay scene, music scene, and living at the Chelsea Hotel.....became a Patti fan

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The songs of youth...

Beautiful, heartbreaking and uplifting. I expected no less from our great punk priestess, but listening her tell their story has been one of the highlights of my literary life. Thank you, Ms. Smith. You are a gem.

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