Just Kids

By: Patti Smith

Narrated by: Patti Smith

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2010

Patti Smith’s evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe

A prelude to fame, Just Kids recounts the friendship of two young artists--Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe – whose passion fueled their lifelong pursuit of art.

In 1967, a chance meeting between two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that would carry each to international success never dreamed of. The backdrop is Brooklyn, Chelsea Hotel, Max’s Kansas City, Scribner’s Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol’s Factory and the whole city resplendent. Among their friends, literary lights, musicians and artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy Daley, Sam Shepherd, William Burroughs, etc. It was a heightened time politically and culturally; the art and music worlds exploding and colliding. In the midst of all this two kids made a pact to always care for one another. Scrappy, romantic, committed to making art, they prodded and provided each other with faith and confidence during the hungry years--the days of cous-cous and lettuce soup.

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully written, this is a profound portrait of two young artists, often hungry, sated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable portrait of New York, her rich and poor, hustlers and hellions, those who made it and those whose memory lingers near.

©2010 Patti Smith (P)2011 Patti Smith

Pure gold.

This audio book had me spellbound. I was transported - lost in the world of Patti and Robert, New York City, 1960's and was oblivious to everyone and everything around me. I hung off every word, and 'couldn't put it down'. If you admire the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and/or Patti Smith you will love this book like I did. But I think even if you have never heard of either of them, you will love it. It stands alone as a love story, a life story, beautifully crafted. That Patti Smith herself has narrated the book makes the audio book even better than reading it visually would be. Her voice adds to the magic. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Great!

I've been a fan of Patti Smith's music for years, but initially hesitated to listen to this book because I thought it might be mainly about the relationship between two people, one of whom died tragically young, and therefore a bit depressing. I'm so glad I did listen to it, because it's very much a portrait of a time and place (the late 1960s and the 1970s in New York). It is also about the relationship between Patti and Robert Mapplethorpe, which is handled in a delicate and not at all maudlin way. I gained a lot of insight into all of the participants and their artistic milieu, making me curious to know more about some aspects of the latter, even though I'd already read a fair bit about the topic. The book is read very well by Patti Smith in her distinctive way, which somehow manages to combine directness and deceptive simplicity with emotional complexity and surprising ideas, just like her music. This is a well-crafted and sensitive book that impresses me with Patti Smith's writing.

brilliant

breathtakingly beautiful story. i cried.
thank you patti smith for sharing your life with the world.

Magical journey

This was one of those books you cannot put down, I was totally transported back in time to the Chelsea Hotel with the essence of being a struggling artist, poet and creative. And to have Patti read it, beautiful, raw and touching living memories… brilliant!

She is a legend, so full of heart

Patti Smith is a legend.

This memoir is a delight. Absolutely crucial for anyone interested in New York, the 60s and 70s, punk, art, music, poetry, and life.

I had previously read the punk oral history tome of Please Kill Me, which had many interviews with Patti Smith about her seminal time at Max's Kansas City and CBGB's, and I thought I had a decent impression of her. I was aware of her music, and that she came from a poetry background. Little did I know how much heart and talent in writing she held.

While Please Kill Me often aimed to shock, her own memoir Just Kids is full of soul and beauty. It is unapologetically sentimental, nothing wrong with that at all. There is the gay sex and occasional drugs and that sort of thing, but it's all told in such beautiful prose as simple parts of life. It's not about extremes, just getting at the root of what truly happens in one's love-filled memories...

Costar of this memoir is photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. They were famously friends, starving artists together struggling (and by struggling it was really bad in those early years indeed) in New York until they made it big. Their first meet-cute as she was running away from an older man trying to take advantage, their shy courtship, adventures at the Chelsea Hotel, the path he took as he explored BDSM and became such a controversial artist which she wasn't even into. Though ultimately he wasn't her orientation, they truly seemed to be soulmates throughout their lives.

The story jumps around, filled with so many precious details about New York in the 60s. When the punk era 70s come around, and Patti finds success, the stories then rush on by. Aside from a few excellent vignettes about how her most memorable songs were written, this particular part of her life is not really the point. She relishes in what made her an artist in the first place, rather than reliving the whole rock star life. In fact, the story if anything then kind of skips far away to the late 80s when Robert sadly contracted HIV and eventually passed. It's not fun, but it is what happened and that's the story to focus upon. These deep truths are what it's all about.

This is the Patti Smith aesthetic, her writing craft, and it is a valid powerful work of art.

Note: I listened to the audiobook edition, read by the author, which leaves me with such an impression.

So anyway, throughout it all, from beginning to end, they were ultimately just that: Just Kids

And as so eloquently said, one hopes, Paths That Cross Will Cross Again...

The Artist’s World

Amazing journey into the lives of two soul mates and how they evolved. Beautifully written and the narration at first felt slow but then apt.

This is love

In so many words, events, creations, lives, places, people, songs and memories. This is love.

Already loved both Robert and Patti

and this made me love them more than before, with extra insight into how they were when they worked and into their dynamic as people

Incredible, beautiful book

I highly recommend this book! The fact that it is read by Patti Smith makes it even that much more powerful!

So beautiful

I didn't want it to end...magical and engaging and Patti's voice is hypnotic.

Moving straight on to her next book

The most spectacular experience

What made the experience of listening to Just Kids the most enjoyable?

The narration and the beauty of the language, harmonising fully with the story, made this my most enjoyable audiobook experience for me to date. I was not into Patti Smith nor very fascinated by the age or Chelsea Hotel before but needed to start going through her work afterwards. And felt an extreme urge to quit my job, sit on a floor and create, and just listen to this over and over (I just barely manage to refrain though)

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

The story in itself is not really what makes this book. All the moments where Patti Smith lets us peak below her skin, the vulnerable moments, the moments of sheer joy, the uncertainties of life- those are why this book is such a treasure.

Which character – as performed by Patti Smith – was your favourite?

The story is read with one voice, not portraying the people she has met in her life by different voices, but rather as personal recollections of events.

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

There were occasions of tears running down my cheeks, despite sitting on the commuter train. And episodes where I giggled. But which of all the reflections and events that will move the listener are probably different for every person. Just be prepared to be emotionally involved at some level.

Mild-mannered woman goes through life. The end.

What didn’t you like about Patti Smith’s performance?

The woman cannot pronounce 'drawing' to save her life. And she says 'drawing' a lot. Finding out during the book that she used to do poetry readings I'm like.... wut. Could be that her way of speaking is good for a short poem, but it's tedious for the duration of a whole book.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I liked the little snippets of observations about her contemporaries. But there's a long way between them.

Any additional comments?

This was just a colourless narration of stuff that happened. I didn't feel close to the people in it, or drawn in by her journey, but I might just not be into this kind of stuff.

Great book v interesting and moving

great book makes you think about your life as ana artist and the infinite connection to God. Inspiring and moving and engaging!

Wow

As good as it gets, funny, sad, insightful, tragic, rocking and told with honest warmth that you hear rising from the words and the authors own reading.

I was immersed in Just Kids

It's a fascinating story, whether you are fan of Patti Smiths' music or not. It's beautifully written in such poetic way. It transported me to exciting NYC in the 60s and 70s, about the struggle and drive of two people to make it as artists, and their love, relationship and admiration for one another. It's full of poetry, I absolutely loved it.

Oh yes! Now I remember why I liked the Ramones...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Along with the Velvets, Television, New York Dolls, Ramones, Jonathan Richman, and Iggy Pop, Patti Smith played as the American part of background music to my late teen years. I didn't quite 'get' her then, and after listening to this I have to admit that I'd she just ain't to my taste. My partner was less generous and asserted 'Up herself! Wannabe Bloomsbury in NYC with all the snobbery and less of the humour.' Possibly too harsh?

The narration is Patti Smith (fairly monotone), the words quite poetical, the story unsurprising, and just occasionally touching. It is informative, and helps fill out the picture of the times, the NY scene, and some insight into Maplethorpe... but ultimately left me cold and unmoved.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

A few recipes or how to cook with one ring at the Chelsea Hotel? Perhaps a Blue Peter like guide to necklace making with Robert?

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Perfectly 1.75mph

Was Just Kids worth the listening time?

if you'd rather visit a poets graveyard in Paris than pogo in the pub.

Any additional comments?

Bet she doesn't have a guilty pleasure in her whole album collection, a P.G Wodehouse on her shelves, or a copy of Hello in the bog. But hey! Gabba gabba hey!

Just Beautiful

Just beautiful from start to finish. Can't wait to find out all about her work now.

Love and Art

A story of love and art. A story worth telling. A story of a time.
Beautiful.

a very beautiful , romantic , sad book

about a very beautiful , romantic , happy life

i knew nor thought about patti smith , a friend urged me to read this book , i am so glad i did

i read [ on kindle ] while She read to me on audio book , She has a beautiful voice and a wonderful way of saying ' drawings ' [ which to me sounds like ' DRAWLings ' ]

i experience [ the tiniest part of the life of an artist ] and have lived off the power and energy that experience infused in my soul , this book spoke to that part [ and others ]

it's better to have loved and lost ...

knowing love [ art , work , people , inspiration , romance ] like that one can live [ and mourn ] a lifetime more ...

patti you wrote a lovely book , thank you for your honesty in sharing stories of your life

The greatest love story I've ever come across

Calling this a love story might be underselling it, but in the broader sense it is a love story. Perhaps an unconventional one, but most probably the greatest one I've ever come across.