Just Kids ( Certified Reading)

Just Kids”, what an incredibly written memoir, so touching and meticulously articulated that Patti take us to the life of an young helpless teen girl, vulnerable to the vagaries of life and her serendipitous acquaintance with an young man at a very testing time of her life and later befriending him for a lifetime. Their living together and how she got groomed and evolved to became a fantastic artist with all the events unfolding candidly before our eyes and the readers themselves integrated into the life of Patti and flow along her like a fallen leaf floating with the turbulent currents. Her sorrow, ecstasy, vulnerability, uncertainty all are palpable as if she is living in our time, between us. Her extraordinarily beautiful and soulful relationship with Robert was at times heart wrenching and many a time exhilarating too but quite unforgettable and delightfully poetic. It also gives an insightful account of all those great souls, stalwarts in their own field of arts and at the same time so humane and unselfish to hold Patty in her testing times and rose her to the field of arts is nothing but the greatness of those generation of men and women. Just Kids is a delightful read.

It is not often that I read a book which compels me to sit with my thoughts for hours before compiling them into a review. ‘Just Kids’ was one of them. It’s hard to summarize and pin-point it to a genre, much like Patti Smith’s career herself. It’s a promise fulfilled to a friend who served as an axis of comfort and stability in an uncertain time. It’s an homage to New York in the 60s and 70s. It’s a reflection on the life of an artist before fame. What makes this book stand out is Patti’s prose. She is a gifted writer and someone who is unassuming. For a memoir, she was able to strike the right chord – introspective, candid, sharing her shortcomings without justifying too much, and being honest enough to show the life of a struggling artist without glamorizing it.

Patti smiths writting is quite different from what you would expect after having listened to her music for so long. You can notice she doesnt tell the stories in detail and has her privacy in mind but this, for me, leaves the impression that what IS being said is genuine. I am not sure if she has a ghost writer, but I dont really think so. Love the frank, almost innocent, manner in which the book has been written thus far, I am almost 2/3rd into it. The seller! The book did not arive by the time it should have, but the shop sent another, then both of them arrived at the same time, and the seller gave me the option of a refund or a big discount for late delivery etc. A great shop, to be fair. Sent the extra book back and refused the discount, Patti would be might proud.

I thoroughly enjoyed this description of the relationship between Patti smith and Robert Mapplethorpe as well as the various cameos from famous characters. I have never listened to Patti Smith's music but loved this book and her writing.

Un libro stupendo, una scrittura super piacevole. Lo leggerei mille volte.

Tolles Buch, hab es mit Freude gelesen

so so so so good