Just Kids
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`The most beautiful, incredible autobiography - it will make you ache for a time and a place that you probably never knew, New York in the 1970s' --Nick Hornby
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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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kindred Spirits,
By
This review is from: Just Kids (Hardcover)
Anyone familiar with the lives and works ofPatti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe will know that this story cannot have a happy ending. Mr Mapplethorpe's death from AIDS-related illness in 1989 drew a sad line underneath a unique friendship. 'Just Kids' is Mme Smith's memoir of that extraordinary relationship. That they were kindred spirits from the start is evident in Smith's affectionate prose. The energy that held them together, in love and in adversity, contributed immeasurably to their respective artistic achievements. I had not realised how intertwined their creative paths had been until reading this beautifully written book. The 'High Priestess Of Punk' is a surprisingly gentle and sensitive narrator. Starting with tender and vivid reflections of her childhood in Pennsylvania and New Jersey we quickly see that she will not linger there for long. That she was an outsider (albeit a somewhat timid one) from the start made her eventual pilgrimage to the dark beating heart of culture in New York City inevitable. She and Mapplethorpe fell into each others lives as much by chance as by design. The descriptions of their early struggles to establish a place for their art are unsentimentally drawn. Her tales from the bowels of the Hotel Chelsea and accounts of the brutal pecking order of bohemian wannabes at clubs like Max's Kansas City are littered with the names of iconic characters from this colourful period of the city's history. It is as much a story of a time and place as it is an excavation of her own emotional and creative trajectory. That each of them eventually found their place (she in the world of rock and roll and he in the photographer's studio) would perhaps not have happened in quite the same way had their mutual dependency, support, encouragement and love not had the chance to flourish in those heady early years. That their lives eventually moved in different directions did not diminish the intensity and importance of their primary and enduring attachment to one another. 'Just Kids' is a grown-up tale of two souls in search of meaning. Highly Recommended.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Patti Smith's Just Kids,
By
This review is from: Just Kids (Hardcover)
This book arrived swiftly and safely. It is a wonderful autobiography, the best I have read in years. Sensitively and honestly written, it is obvious that Patti Smith is a world away from celebrity culture. She is not influenced by money, status or fame..how bloody refreshing. She gives perceptive insights into many of the fast movers in the late 60s and early 70s American pop and art culture. I only wish I had no short term memory so I could read it again afresh....BRILLIANT
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where friendship and art meet.,
By
This review is from: Just Kids (Hardcover)
This is an interesting memoir, especially for fans of Mapelthrope or Patti Smith. For the younger generation who may not be familiar with these two names. Maplethorpe was a photographer with a style that was recognizable no matter his subject (he died of AIDs in his early 40s in 1989) and lets just say he wore his homosexuality proudly (for more on mapelthorpe I recommend Mapplethorpe: A Biography). Smith is the poet singer song writer often referred to as the grandma of punk rock and an activist for many causes to this very day. In this Memoir Smith writes about her relationship with Maplethorpe in the late and early 1970s before they became famous. I thought it was fascinating to read about these two icons before they realized who the were or wanted to be. Its hard not to think of Smith as a poet rebel, guitar in hand or Mapelthorpe as the in your face artist, but Smith's book takes the reader back to when both were "Just Kids." You see Smith and Maplethorpe as young people, not always secure in who they are, groping to find their passions that were burning inside but not fully understood. In this memoir Smith also presents a picture of a New York that no longer exists, and that alone makes this wonderful reading. Not all song writers can successfully write lyrics as well as prose, Smith though has a gift with the written word that is transcendent. Heart felt and honest, like her music, I highly recommend this book. For more honest reading concerning Hollywood Icons in the 1960s I have to recommend "Misfits Country."
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