The legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her formidable body of work--from her influential 1975 album Horses to her visual art and poetry.

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.

A true fable, Just Kids is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco Press
Published: 01/01/2010
ISBN: 9780066211312
Pages: 279
Weight: 1.27lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.22w x 1.16d
Award: New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Award - Winner
Award: ALA Notable Books - Winner
Award: National Book Awards - Winner
Award: National Book Critics Circle Award - Finalist
Award: Lambda Literary Awards - Finalist
Award: Lambda Literary Awards - Finalist
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/15/2009 pg. 44
Publishers Weekly 12/07/2009 pg. 43
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2009
Entertainment Weekly 01/15/2010 pg. 75
Library Journal Annex 11/23/2009
New York Times Book Review 01/31/2010 pg. 1
Village Voice 01/27/2010 pg. 29
Time 02/15/2010 pg. 62
New York Times Book Review 02/07/2010 pg. 22
People Weekly 02/22/2010 pg. 49
Entertainment Weekly 12/24/2010 pg. 118
Village Voice 12/08/2010 pg. 34
People Weekly 12/27/2010 pg. 65
People Weekly 06/13/2011 pg. 61
Publishers Weekly Best Books 11/08/2010 pg. 22
Kirkus Best Books 12/15/2010 pg. 12
New York Review of Books 02/09/2012 pg. 16