• Just Kids

  • By: Patti Smith
  • Narrated by: Patti Smith
  • Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (5,018 ratings)

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Just Kids  By  cover art

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: The top 100 celebrity memoirs of all time


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What listeners say about Just Kids

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More moving than any fictions I ever read

This is my first five-star audiobook. The relationship between Patti and Robert is more moving than anything that I ever read even in fictions. Beautiful and precious. The way Smith writes and narrates is also so honest. I am so glad that she read this herself. I feel lucky to have encountered this book. I will listen to this again.

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Amazing: A++

Great content. Even better is Patti herself reads the book which really gives you even more insight into her genius mind and her life. LOVE YOU PATTI!

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Such a lovely and heartbreaking story, and I'm really glad that I listened to it in Patti's voice. Her idiosyncratic pronunciation of certain words, a few song lyrics actually sung, her love and emotion all made it a really great experience.

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The Best Ever...

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

beautiful, inspiring and heartfelt

What did you like best about this story?

The personal nature of Patti Smith's narrative and the unabashed truthfulness in which she shared her experiences.

Which scene was your favorite?

I cannot limit it to one scene, but all of the stories regarding her and Mapplethorpe's collaborations and artistic endeavors.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Absolutely, I cried throughout...

Any additional comments?

One of the best books I've heard in a long time. Patti Smith's narration is fantastic.

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all the things I never knew

wonderful story narrated with such thoughtful emotion. I learned so much about people I have long admired. Thank you, Patti Smith.

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So beautifully written and read by Patti Smith.

I knew I wanted to read this book the moment I heard about it but I'm so glad I bought the audio book instead. Patti Smith reads her story with such grace and elegance you feel like she's reading a novel.

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Just Kids is everything we could hope for and more.

I just didn’t want Patti Smith to stop telling the story. So beautiful. So much love.

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Touching and Fascinating

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

This is one of the best books I've listened to so far.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Just Kids?

I loved pretty much all of it... listening to Patti Smith read it was special for me.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yep, I cried a few times.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book. I appreciate Patti's candor and writing skills.

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Amazing story of Young artists.

A wonderful story of Young artists who found each other, supported each other and grew as people and artists. Memorable. Patti Smith writing is compelling and complete. Robert is smiling from above.

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Beautiful

Very moving: inspiring, fascinating, poignant and tragic. A meditation on true loyalty, love, friendship, and the keeping of vows. Very glad she wrote this.

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