Words cannot express how much I love “Just Kids” by Patti Smith. Before I go into anything, I have to give credit where it’s due: Candela has been telling me to read this book for over a year and she was so right in saying that it was life-changing. I think I cried more than three times and I was just so into it that I didn’t want it to end.
I have to admit that I wasn’t a Patti Smith fan before reading her book. I didn’t know her music or any of her life story, although I knew about the Hotel Chelsea and the craziness of 1970s New York City. But after reading it, I am obsessed with her.
The book tells her life story as it intertwines with that of Robert Mapplethorpe, the incredible photographer and artist. We hear about their first apartment, their love for music, their experimentations with sexuality, drugs, and love, and their experiences as starving artists. Of course, we also learn of their love for each other. Did I mention that I cried??
This is my new favorite book of all time. Her punk rock history had a profound effect on me, even inspiring me to impulsively chop off a load of my hair as she does in the story. As I’ve said in recent reviews I’ve had this sort of alternative feminist awakening that is more witchy and intimidating than the more feminine feminist persona, if that makes sense? Like a masculine feminism? I don’t know but Patti has it down and I want to emulate her in my life.
I want to live in the Hotel Chelsea and go to the round table at Max’s Kansas City with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Andy Warhol. I want to take photos at Coney Island with the love of my life and eat at Nathan’s. I want to travel to Paris and retrace the steps of my favorite poets. I really just want to be her.
This book is a quick read, but that’s because once you start, you can’t stop. The pictures in it make me so happy. I am planning on putting some on my wall during my quarantine. I put a bunch below. She is so cool, he is so cool, and while you’re reading it, you’re so cool. It’s like you’re a part of this crazy nostalgic world and you never want it to end.
<3 <3 <3
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