Winner of the 2010 National Book Award for Non-Fiction, Patti Smith's definitive autobiography is a stimulating, honest, and moving coming-of-age story that reveals her great relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
“Agonizing, elegiac, and masterfully crafted” – Sunday Times
“Extremely tumultuous... The most enchanting and entertaining portrait of funky-but-chic New York in the late '60s and '70s captured in print” – New York Times
“Revealing, dramatic, often tragicomic” – Vogue
In 1967, a chance encounter between two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that would bring them international success like they had never imagined. It tightens the background of Brooklyn, the Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, Scribner's Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol's Factory, and the entire city. Among their friends were writers, musicians, and artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy Daley, Sam Shepherd, and William Burroughs. It was a period of political and cultural tension, with the worlds of art and music exploding and colliding. Amid all this, two kids made a pact to always take care of each other.
Scrappy, romantically devoted to creating art, they encouraged and offered each other faith and confidence during the tough years – the days of couscous and lettuce soup. “Just Kids” begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully written, it is a deep portrait of two young artists, who were often hungry, satiated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable portrait of New York, its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions, those who made it, and those of memory who remain close.
Pages: 320, Year of Publication: 1213, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm
