After having this book on my shelf for months, I have finally had time for free-reading and finished it. The book that I am talking about it Just Kids by Patti Smith. For those of you that live under a rock and don't know who Patti Smith is--she is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her "revolutionary emergence of poetry and rock."
Johnny Depp said "Patti Smith has graced us with a poetic masterpiece, a rare and privileged invitation to unlatch a treasure chest never before breached."
This New York Times Bestseller is about Patti's adventures from Brooklyn to the Chelsea Hotel and her relationship with fellow artist Robert Mapplethorpe , who in my opinion, was very attractive when he was young. I became envious of her life as I read her stories. For instance, one evening she went to buy a sandwich from a vending machine but needed a dime and a voice behind her asked her if he could help. That voice was none other than Allen Ginsberg. I mean, just imagine? Nothing like that ever happens. Patti and Robert also became regulars at the round table at Max's Kansas City.
"The back room, bathed in red light, was Robert's objective, and the definitive target was the legendary round table that still harbored the rose-colored aura of the absent silver king [Andy Warhol]" (117).
I wish I could have lived during that time- dined with Ginsberg, sang with Joplin and Hendrix, and conversed with Bobby Neuwirth "the peacemaker-provocateur. Bob Dylan's alter ego."
For anyone who is interested in music, art, the 1970s or even a true love story should read this book.
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