Product Description

It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.

Customer Reviews (88)

what a gift!
after reading it i feel so happy for the gift i received. and so sorry for have never heard her music, her poems and have had prejudices on her. i'm so sorry Patti! God bless you

captivating
A must read for anyone who has followed the work and art of Patti Smith or of any artist at any time. This is a tale of love, of loyalties and of the heart of creation. Including snippets of the history of the art world in NYC during the late 60s and moving into the punk era, the voice is distinctly that of Patti Smith who tells her own very personal story in the context of a living phenomenon.

A MUST READ
this will bring you back to a time in nyc..patti knows how to describe people an dplaces and things..she makes you feel as if you are there..interesting funny and yes even sad..but well worth reading

Written with love
Patti Smith wrote an account of her relationship and friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe with love and without turning it into a showcase for her own life and career. The book gives a delicate and sweet picture without sugarcoating the reality of their lives. A good book for fans of Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe or the 70s and 80s art and music scene, as well as fans of New York City.

A promise kept, a loving tribute
Smith writes with a poet's clear imagery and an economy of words all too rare in the memoir genre.
Before Robert Mapplethorpe died, Patti Smith promised him that she would one day write the story of their years in New York City. Now, twenty years after his death, she has made good on that promise.

This is the story of a beautiful, complex, demanding and ever-evolving friendship between two young, hopeful, actively unconventional creatives. They alternated in the role of muse to each other as they felt their way through the New York City art/poetry/theater/music scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were struggling to find their special niches and become accepted as artists. In this process they were often also struggling for simple survival. They frequently went hungry and had no place to sleep, all the while bolstering each other's resolve and refusing to give up their dreams.

I never really knew anything about Robert Mapplethorpe aside from a big flap in the 80s about how his work was offensive. Smith writes about him with such tenderness and honesty that I couldn't help weeping when she described his death as a result of AIDS. We should all be so lucky as to have a friend like Patti Smith---a friend who could remember for us our youthful, most hopeful, most vulnerable selves and memorialize us so genuinely. ... Read more

Product Description

HORSES Gloria (In Excelsis Deo) Redondo Beach Birdland Free Money Kimberly Fire of Unknown Origin Break It Up Land Elegie RADIO ETHIOPIA Ask the Angels Ain't It Strange Poppies Pissing in a River Pumping (My Heart) Distant Fingers Chiklets Radio Ethiopia/Abyssinia EASTER Till Victory Space Monkey Because the Night Ghost Dance Babelogue Rock n Roll Nigger We Three 25th Floor High on Rebellion Godspeed Easter WAVE Frederick Dancing Barefoot Revenge Citizen Ship Seven Ways of Going Broken Flag Wave Hymn DREAM OF LIFE People Have the Power Up There Down There Paths That Cross Somalia Wild Leaves Dream of Life It Takes Time Where Duty Calls Going Under As the Night Goes By Looking for You (I Was) The Jackson Song Memorial Song GONE AGAIN Gone Again Beneath the Southern Cross About a Boy My Madrigal Summer Cannibals Dead to the World Wing Ravens Fireflies Farewell Reel Come Back Little Sheba PEACE AND NOISE Waiting Underground Whirl Away 1959 Don't Say Nothing Dead City Blue Poles Death Singing Memento Mori Last Call GUNG HO One Voice Lo and Beholden Boy Cried Wolf Persuasion Gone Pie China Bird Glitter in Their Eyes Strange Messengers Grateful Upright Come New Party Libbie's Song Gung Ho TRAMPIN' Trampin' Jubilee Mother Rose Stride of the Mind Cartwheels Gandhi Trespasses In My Blakean Year Cash Peaceable Kingdom Radio Baghdad

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book!!!
It's a great book with all the lyrics from Patti. It's a interesting way to follow the career from her.
Nice pictures complete it.
For all the fans or people the are interested in her life one tip - buy it!!!

A very good Patti Smith photographs collection
'Complete,' referred to her music career: here we found the complete lyricsof all her records since 1975 'Horses' to 2006 'Trampin'.' And she adds commentaries, small articles, very interesting to understand the recordings in its context: her thoughts, interests, musicians, etc.

And we found a superb photographs collection, too: Patti, musicians, rockconcerts, manuscripts and typescripts, sleeves, poets, friends, family. The book's recommendable for the photographs in itself. (I would give it five stars)

Unfortunately there's no reference to the double CD compilation 'Land 1975-2002' (Arista 2002). Why? This compilation included Patti's songs that were published in the first time on its CD2: perhaps the 1974 single 'Piss Factory' (however there's a slightly different version in a photo of a typescript), the 1996 studio outtake 'Wander I Go', the 2001 live recording new song 'Higher Learning.' The lyrics of these songs aren't in the book; but the complete lyrics would be interesting for the non-English native tongue people, as me.

There's no foreword in the book so we don't know how she's selected lyrics and texts, and why did not be really a 'complete' lyrics compilation. (I gave it four stars). ... Read more

Product Description
Collected here are selections from Smith's writings over the decade in which she made a lasting impact on America's underground literary and rock scene. Some of the works selected are unpublished pieces from journals, performances and Smith's personal papers. Early Work brings together all sides of Patti Smith, from the thoughtful intellectual to the explosive performer. Photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Awesome
I fell in love with Patti's first album,Then later when this book came out i fell in love with her poetry this is an excellent Book for anyone thats into Poetry in a style influnced by poets such as Rimbaud and Jim Morrison who was also influnced by Rimbaud

Few have crafted modern mythology so well...
EARLY WORK is an ideal intro to Patti Smith the writer, and - if you're already a fan of the music - it's an essential companion.

Compiling material that appeared in earlier chapbooks and the BABEL collection from 1978, the selection of poems and prose-poems appearing here dive farther into the varied personas and philosophies suggested on her many engaging recordings.Here we have Patti the priestess, Patti the punk generalissimo, Patti the diva, Patti the provocateur...

Most provocatively, I will always love her splintering of sexual roles - ostensibly within the context of her rock world (posing like Keith Richards, the diva-as-cock-rocker), but with implicit greater applications as well.And her conflicted spirituality comes through quite eloquently.

EARLY WORK presents some of the key work of New York's grass-roots artistic comeback.Not to be missed.

-David Alston

I love Patti, but...
Regarding this book, my main gripe with Patti is that she edited some of the poems from Seventh Heaven so that they're missing the lesbian erotic content.This change seems both deceptive and cowardly, and I think Patti needs to have her [...] kicked for it.

Patti, at her most mythic and provocative
Patti's fans (and foes) will find plenty of ammunition in this collection of lyrics and poetry from the 1970s. From the earliest, it is obvious that Patti's a romantic mythmaker at heart, with syntax and meaning almost losing out to the sheer power and rhythm of the word. It's difficult to read her lyrics without hearing the rock'n'roll that carried them aloft. Patti's subject matter on the earliest albums -- art, drugs, and mysticism in full romantic swoon -- she delivered with nearly Biblical passion. Her lyric styles and confessional soul-searching owe a debt to Jim Morrison, which Patti has always acknowledged, and the power of Patti's words (like Morrison's) is often in their performance and not on the printed page. Her fans will appreciate having a written record of Patti's earliest lyrics, but the simply curious may not be converted.

PATTI"THE DIVA OF PUNK"
FINE PIECE OF WORK. NICE PHOTOS,AND ALL. ANYTHING RELATED TO
PATTI IS A TRUE PLEASURED ART PIECE. THE WORLD WAS GIVEN A GIFT
WHEN PATTI SMITH ERRECTED INTO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.
GREAT BOOK TO GET TO LEARN ABOUT THE WOMAN OF PUNK AND POETRY.
WAY TO GO PATTI. ... Read more

Product Description

Auguries of Innocence is the first book of poetry from Patti Smith in more than a decade. It marks a major accomplishment from a poet and performer who has inscribed her vision of our world in powerful anthems, ballads, and lyrics. In this intimate and searing collection of poems, Smith joins in that great tradition of troubadours, journeymen, wordsmiths, and artists who respond to the world around them in fresh and original language. Her influences are eclectic and striking: Blake, Rimbaud, Picasso, Arbus, and Johnny Appleseed. Smith is an American original; her poems are oracles for our times.

Customer Reviews (5)

Auguries of Innocence Pomes
Auguries of Innocence: Poems is a fantastic collection of pomes by Patti Smith. I highly rcomend this book of her pomes to anyone who love great classic poetry. I have started to listen to her and her band rekindaling that great feeling I got when I listen to her works.

Branded The Queen God Mother of Punk Rock Patti never fails to give the reader or listener a great expeiance! Her songs and poetry are great paintings on a often times bleak canvas. Patti's art is a breath of fresh air. If you have never looked into her before do yourself a favor buy this book.

Rick Glenn

Unfashionably unreconstructed...
Poetry is something that is too hard, too strange, too weird.Who buys poetry books anymore?Patti Smith's weird, strange, sometimes baffling but ultimately satisfying collection of poems, prose and auguries (omens and portents) is a book that poetry needs; it is gentle, soothing, challenging and mysterious.

A generation ago, New York went through one of its recurring radioactively artistic periods, the mid to late 1970s, the flowering of the punk rock scene, the de-flowering of the mega-arena rock of the day.Patti Smith became one of the shining stars of the New York punk world by reciting her wildly ecstatic poems with friend Lenny Kaye's guitar accompaniment.With loud guitars, her poetry became punk.Poetry for the masses.Well, maybe not.With the release of what became a landmark in American music, Horses, (1975, recently re-issued and expanded on Arista Records) Ms Smith began a career in arts and letters that saw a peak last year with her being decorated by the French Minister of Culture as a Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters.Not bad for a scraggly, skinny androgynous girl from New Jersey who looked like Keith Richards if you squinted.

But her influences are not the usual suspects.Not Dylan, not Burroughs, not even Ginsberg.This is not just another boomer nostalgia thing. Ms Smith finds heroes and models in the visionary, romantic, hallucinatory 19th century words of William Blake, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine.Ms. Smith's title itself is homage to Blake's own Auguries of Innocence, written two hundred years ago in another age, perhaps wormhole connected to ours, one with empires ebbing and flowing across the earth, cruelty abounding, leaving innocents as victims.Unabashedly political, a rhythmic trance in short sharp lines as bleak and dark as a night of shock and awe, Birds of Iraq, the book's centerpiece, leaves no Iraqi innocent behind."March twentieth/Awake spring./The birds are silent./It is happening again./I rise yet cannot rise./I take to my bed/Wind the sheet/About my head./It is coming on/A nerve storm" This is strong stuff.Perhaps Birds of Iraq is a companion piece to Ms Smith's recent song Radio Baghdad, a hypnotic meditation over dark pulsing guitars that is rock `n roll--but not poetry.

Perhaps less convincing, but still with a wordsmith resonance is The Long Road."We tramped in our black coats,/Sweeping time,/Sleeping in abandoned chimneys,/Emergingto face the rain./Wet, bedraggled, a bit gone,/Trudging the grooves,/chewing bulbs,/We were so hungry, tulips/blazed with ragged petals...../Happily, we begin again."One cannot resist seeing cherished boomer Woodstock images that may drive those of lesser age crazy.But so what?It's her poem and she can do whatever she wants with it.

She says she is an "unfashionably unreconstructed `60s radical."That, and the music of poetry are not bad things to have around during these troubled times.

I Think She's Lost Her Edge
I'm a huge Patti Smith fan from the late 70's forward.She was inspirational to me from the moment I heard her, late one night on the Vin Scelsa radio show, pouring forth her musical poetry with an intensity I'd never heard from any artist before.When I went off to college in 1977, I had the pleasure of witnessing a performance that was an event like nothing I'd encountered to that point.

SHE is responsible for everything that I began to listen to from that point forward musically - it opened me up to artists I probably would have missed otherwise.

And it stuck with me.I was hooked.I have the most worn copy of "Babel" you've ever seen - and even had her sign this dog-earred version a few years back during another book tour of hers.I have a signed (now framed) poster from a concert I was unable to go to because my mom was dying - a good friend brought it back for me - the short poem on it reflecting that time in my life in a way that still makes me sad, and hopeful each time I read it.

So, I was looking forward to this new collection.For me, I'm just not feeling it.I couldn't get into any of it - try as I might.It seems to be lacking the driving rhythms of earlier poems - the ones that just slipped off the tongue, with a life of their own.I got the references in nearly everything but in this book, I feel lost somewhere.And it isn't like I haven't kept up with her, I know about her losses, her loves, her life, etc.

Now, maybe I'm just not ready for it.This has happened to me before with other music and poetry which did not strike a chord with me until a year or so later.Maybe I'm just out of touch or too old now, or something else I can't put my finger on?

It really pains me to even write that I'm not enjoying this.Maybe, I'll be enlightened down the road but for now, I'd rather be reading her older works.

Eternity In An Hour
Like the other reviewer, we went to see Patti Smith read from her new book on Sunday here in San Francisco, at the Victoria Theater where she went on as a benefit for the fabled Poetry Center at San Francisco State.She introduced AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE in a context very much about William Blake, who wrote a poem two hundred years ago with the same title:

Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

Her book is all about the perils of childhood.One of the poems, "Fourteen," takes the facts and images of the recent Elizabeth Smart case (the Mormon girl kidnapped out of her home in Utah by a "family" of nuts) and recasts it in Blakean terms.Reading "Fourteen" Smith brought us right into a strange, familiar world of danger, even terror.We may not force our children to work until midnight in mills and factories here in the US, but indeed we do force children overseas to do exactly that.As she points out, in private life not much has improved for our children who continue to be exploited sexually and damaged while young.

The new book isn't all about tragedy however, and her reading of "The Long Road" brought smiles and innumerable, involuntary nmods of recognition.Dedicated to her brother and sister, "The Long Road" surveys the whole enchanted world of childhood, the pleasures as well as the tears.Childhood is an anarchic, contested site of adventure, it's the "Never-Never Land" of PETER PAN, and something happens when children bond together against the adult world, they discover an agency that bonds them together as a host of angels.It isn't always pretty, but it's vibrant, even when it's scary.

Another new poem she read related to her recent LP TRAMPIN.This was an elegy, written in Belfast, on the death of an Irish tramp she happened to read in the local newspapers.The poems are pretty much short ones, concentrated bursts of lyric.One poem I didn't think worked very well expanded the legend of the "Three Windows" in Rome, where Smith happened to be at St Peter's Square when the College of Cardinals was electing the new Pope in April.Jokingly she announced it was the end of her "Pope Trilogy," which began long ago (1978?) with her imaginary encounter with John Paul the First in "Wave."

We were delighted when she brought out her guitar and sang some of her songs as well, including "Beneath the Southern Cross," "Wave" of course, "Wing," "My Blakean Year," "Grateful" for Jerry Garcia, "Dancing Barefoot," "Ghost Dance," and "People have the Power" among others.Lenny was there too.In each case you could see Patti reaching back into her enormous catalogue to try to illuminate (casting a searching beam of light) the new poems of AUGURIES.It was an incredible experience, a "poetry reading" that lasted two hours and twenty minutes.When it was over we all of us pondered the mysteries of William Blake and Patti Smith.It is true of a society that it will be judged by how the weakest and smallest among us are treated:

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house filled with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell through all its regions.
A dog starved at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

Saw Patti read last night in San Francisco
I highly recommend this book to anyone in love with words. I'll share a first hand experience with you, because I'm fortunate to live in a city where I could meet the beautiful poet in a small church off of Haight Street and listen to the splendor of her heart, which is what happened last night. When I awoke this morning the world was a better place for me because of it. Her words are here for us all. Birds of Iraq entranced everyone in that small church, as well as The Lovecrafter and The Oracle (inspired by the cherubs pictured on the cover).Then Mummer Love: "Once I awoke and I heard your voice.I caught bits of nature in truth, our whole natural world.I heard the dead.They were calling to me.I felt my powers.Yet I did not go out into the night.I did not go out into the world.I did not use my powers but I wrote what I wrote.My heart cries but my eyes are dry as a salt bed."Ah, my smithian year. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Patti Smith dream of life
Excellent... worth owning.
Stephen did a great job!!!
John Manzi

journey of pattis life through images
this is a thorough photo montage taken directly from her recent documentary, "dream of life"
the quality of the paper and photograghs are not so great; it has a rather cheap feel to it.
but, because it is a large and comprehensive photo essay, it is well worth it.i enjoyed slowly looking at each photo, taking it in at my own pace which i can't do with a film.

A beautiful companion piece
This is a beautiful companion piece to the film, Dream of Life. It is huge; 429 photos from the film. And very touching, even if you haven't seen the movie. Worth every penny, especially if you are a Patti Smith fan. ... Read more

Product Description
In linked pieces Patti Smith tells the story of a man on a journey to see the Southern Cross, who is reflecting on his life and fighting the illness that is consuming him. Metaphoric and dreamy, this tale of transformation arises from Smith's knowledge of Mapplethorpe as a young man and as a mature artist, his close relationship with his patron and friend, Sam Wagstaff, and his years surviving AIDS and his ascent into death. Rich in detail, it is filled with references to Mapplethorpe's work and shows the man beneath the persona. Set against photographs by Mapplethorpe, the work emerges as a hymn, a prayer, a fable wishing him Godspeed on his latest journey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Simply Beautiful
What a wonderful book. Patti Smith's poetry is full with an intense personal feeling. I can only echo the comments of previous reviewers; this book shines a bright and pellucid beauty, both in its poetry and in the sublime photographs. Spending an afternoon with The Coral Sea took me into a serene, meditative, dreamy state. It has that quality. Something of it reminded me of Visconti's film, Death in Venice. This is a book I shall always have.

Gorgeous lush prose/poem
Patti Smith his come aways since HORSES. Or maybe not very far at all. Lurking beneath the poet/punk of the famous mapplethorp cover was a woman ofprofoundly mystical bent. In this, a fable and an elegy , for Robert as she writes in the dedication, Patti smith imagines a man searching for the southern cross, and a man dying. Each of the very short capters are accompanied by a mapplethorpe photograph. Profound, wrenching prose, which caused me to wince in pain and recognition, and ultimately, which delivers a coda to a life. This is amazing stuff, the kind of book that should be passed to loved ones wrapped in a ribbon of silk,, cherished as a gift. It is that good. It moved me like few books have in my life.Nothing in Patti smiths work had prepared me for the overwhelming beauty of this book. A staggering book of wonder.

Mythic, lyric tribute to Mapplethorpe
This slim volume is sprinkled with photographs primarily by Robert Mapplethorpe.They are well chosen to grace the poetic prose elegy by Patti Smith. The prose reminds me in a strange way of the writings of H.D. - the story of facing death is told in mythic terms - in terms of the sea, the search for the Hercules moth, the sighting of the Southern Cross as his uncle had promised, of Greek gods.Its strength is in the description of Mapplethrope as artist - fascinated by arranging, estranged from nature. The writing is not without flaws but it is interesting and telling.

patti smith -an artist and her book
when i first heard 'horses' by patti smith,i thoght it was the most sublime artwork to inwade my littlepretentious arty world;i thought it was better than sex, masturbation,writing or even drinking - my whole lifehad been transposed. yet, in years that came, patti had found away totranscend even the beauty of the actual physical existence she socelebrated w/ her life, her art, the people she loved;the little girl ofvivid dreams growing into a youg poetess,into a visionary artist, a wife, amother - the seclusion embraced by chosing domesticy only proppeling her tomature as an artist and a person; robbert mapplethorpe had been a dearfriend who helped her to find her true calling - art;his gift had beentaken from us all too soon by aids. she could not weep so she wrote hersorrow : about passenger m who, terminally ill, sets on his last journey, apilgrimage to see the southern cross;in his last days he questions his lifewhich had been beautiful and which he adorned w/ his gift of the perfectplacement of things; it had not been a perfect life however- he was unableto find a balance beetween his desire for perfection and the actual lifeitself;thus he was dying alone, his last wish to see his ideal thesouthern cross: perhaps in his mind he had failed to be what he wished, buthis passing away was beautiful and he left behind his art to light the wayof those treading after him, us. pattis work tells us about the innerstruggle of the artist, she describes robbert as an artist (no matter whatelse he might have been),inducing us to believe in the power and importanceof art in our life;her book is a loving elegie to her friend, her belovedcompeer, her unfettered joy. leena spite.

Staggeringly beautiful and elegantly restrained.
This gorgeous elegaic tribute to Mapplethorpe, to the enduring and transforming power of Love, is like a drop of purest gold that will work quiet alchemy in your spirit; elegant, restrained, and all the morepowerful for the subtle discipline Ms Smith brings - as ever - to herheartfelt poems and meditations. We're privileged to share this healing,necessary work. Staggering and Beautiful. ... Read more

Product Description
Photos by a key figure in modern music, noted for the way she integrates performance poetry with garage-band rock and roll.

Patti Smith is known most widely as a musical artist and a poet, but her creative energies are not limited to those genres. This book offers a chance to explore the photography of the punk poetess. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Fondation Cartier Pour L'Art Contemporain in Paris, it presents hundreds of Polaroids and black-and-white photographs, plus commentaries by the artist.

The exhibition took place from March to June 2008, and many of the photographs were created especially for the show. The book celebrates a lesser- known string to Patti Smith's bow, presenting an iconographic world in which films, drawings, and photographs converge. 250 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful BookBeautiful Photographs
Well worth acquiring - the production of the book itself is of high quality and the photographs are moving - heartfelt little gems. Made me realize what damage the world of the 'perfect', soulless digital camera is doing for our perception of what a photograph is.

An American Artist
A beautifully bound book of Patti's polaroids with comments written in English and French. Each photo will remind you of one of Patti's poems or a song that the Patti Smith Group has performed over the years. Very simple layout with strong emotional undertones. PSG fans will love this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This biography traces the career of Patti Smith from home town poems to street performances in Paris, the highlife in New York, and life with her husband in Detroit. It covers the release of her debut album in 1975 and collaborations with people such as Bruce Springsteen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Patti Smith Incomplete
I mostly enjoyed this book; it is obvious that Mr Johnstone did not personally interview Patti or anyone close to her, either personally or professionally - he acknowledges as much, and that may have hampered him in obtaining crucial facts, but he has evidentally spent considerable time reading other material, so the book is pretty well researched and does include info I had never read before.I am still a little taken aback by some factual errors; as someone has already pointed out, the repeated misspelling of Jimmy Iovine's name (I fail to see how someone who works as a music writer would not know the name of such a well-known producer), also he gets Patti's son Jackson's birth year wrong!As for the attempted interpretations of Patti's writing; didn't Mr Johnstone have access to a lyric sheet for "Easter"?He thinks the title track is about "Frederick and Little Lee" and assumes the latter is a nickname Fred gave Patti because her middle name is Lee?The actual names referenced are "Frederic and Vitalie" the siblings of Arthur Rimbaud, and the song is about their First Communion - this is explained in the liner notes!His dissection of the poems "Judith" and "Judith Revisited" are equally ridiculous; he speculates as to whether they refer to a lesbian crush or a male lusting after a female friend, even as he acknowledges the "red herrings" that one apparently has the name "Patti" and "homosexual love" is mentioned!Patti wrote those poems about her own unrequited crush on her friend Judy Linn, the photographer - she discussed it extensively in a 1972 interview with Victor Bockris!I can't believe Mr Johnstone missed these facts, since he does seem to have read up on a lot of research material.

Anyway, overall it did make for an interesting read, minus the "interpretations".I was a little disappointed at the photos; a lot of them are not even of Patti, and the ones that are do not include any accompanying info about when and where they were taken.However, the cover photo more than makes up for it - it is gorgeous!Such a pale-skinned beauty; the stuff that dreams are made of,for this girl at least :)

A satisfactory overview, until something better comes along.
As with many unauthorized biographies, Nick Johnstone's study of Patti Smith suffers from his lack of access to many of the key figures in her career.Instead, Johnstone attempts to make-do with a host of admiring,but often unconnnected, individuals who offer little beyond their worshipand negligible opinions.

That said, Johnstone's book does concentrateinformation from a variety of largely available sources into a singlevolume and serves as a passable reference with regard to many key events inSmith's maturation and career.His interpretations of the meaning oflyrics, the choices for cover art, and other "insights", however,are often painful to wade through.Typos, misspellings (Jimmy"Lovine"), and factual errors (who brought "Because theNight" to whom?) are often a distraction and cause one to question theveracity of other "facts" presented.These errors are now moreobvious when this work is compared to Patti's own Complete.Nonetheless,Complete does not attempt to approach the detail of this volume, soJohnstone's work will stand until an autobiography or authorized biographycomes along. ... Read more

Product Description

Patti Smith came to New York at the age of nineteen, determined to become someone. And she did -- with a vengeance. Patti's intensely dramatic style, her sensuality, and her outrageous acts set her apart from other performers of the 1970s. She was an astonishingly bold and powerful artist. In Patti Smith, Victor Bockris, the much-respected biographer of Lou Reed and Keith Richards, and Roberta Bayley present the first full-length biography of one of the most revered female rock artists of all time -- as well as a fascinating portrait of the frenzied New York scene in which she rocketed to fame.

From her roots in New Jersey to her reemergence after the death of her husband in the 1990s, this remarkable biography documents Patti Smith's life within the larger context of the ebullient artistic climate of the 1970s and examines her influence on the generation of women artists who followed. Bockris and Bayley explore Patti's complicated and intriguing relationships with Robert Mapplethorpe and Sam Shepard and her friendships with Bob Dylan, John Cale, Lou Reed, and many other avant-garde musicians and artists, placing her at the heart of the New York art scene. But as quickly as she rose to acclaim, she did the unexpected: She dropped out of sight and moved to Detroit to marry and raise a family.

Filled with little-known stories and anecdotes about some of rock's most famous names, Bockris and Bayley's stunning profile of this cultural icon confirms what ingrid Sischy wrote in an article in Interview magazine: "[Smith] gives us something that music and words are supposed to but, in fact, rarely deliver: the power to transport ourselves."Amazon.com Review
If anyone in rock & roll has lived a life that divides neatly into chapters, it's godmother of punk Patti Smith. In her own words, a "gawky and homely... real nervous and sickly" little girl, she nevertheless grew up with a commanding sense of destiny. A bout with scarlet fever when she was 7 years old brought on hallucinations, which fired her already varicolored imagination. Raised a Jehovah's Witness, she broke with the faith in part because it didn't accommodate an aesthetic that embraced everyone from John Coltrane to Maria Callas, from Louisa May Alcott to Jean-Paul Sartre. Venturing to New York, she found acceptance first as a poet and then as a rock singer, drawing upon rock icons (Bob Dylan, Brian Jones, and Jim Morrison among them) to create a riveting unisexual persona all her own.

From there, we witness Smith's inevitable rise and fall (in her case it's literal--she was nearly killed when she tumbled offstage during a 1977 performance). Victor Bockris and Roberta Bayley do an admirable job of tying the disparate phases of Smith's life into a cohesive whole, contrasting the '70s punk priestess in full flower with the curiously subservient suburban Detroit housewife she became following her 1980 marriage to hard-drinking former MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith and the middle-aged survivor who returned to the studio and stage in the 1990s. Smith kept company with some of the pillars of late-20th-century pop culture--Robert Mapplethorpe was her roommate, Sam Shepard was her lover, and William Burroughs was one of her many champions. But what's most striking is how she's been able to simultaneously borrow and build upon the work of the artists in her universe, growing in stature while elevating all that stirred her passion. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

It Was A Good Start :)
I bought this book in 2000, shortly after starting to become interested in Patti after seeing her on TV promoting "Gung Ho".I knew a little of her music up to that point, but nothing of her life, so I immediately sought out a biography; I found this in Barnes And Noble. The cover photo knocked me out right away; unlike most of the people who have posted reviews above, I think it is absolutely gorgeous.(She has the cutest tummy I've ever seen, so seeing it on the cover is a bonus!)I found the book very interesting, since like I said, I really didn't know anything about her so it was a good start to her life story.I realise Mr Bockris did not have access to Patti herself for input, nor did he interview anyone close to her, either family or professional, but at least he does not claim otherwise.He did know her when she was first starting out in NY, accompanied her to a poetry reading in London, and conducted the first official interview with her on publication of her first poetry book, so his first-hand knowledge here makes for fascinating reading, for me anyway :)

The only thing I am a little disappointed in is that there is very little included about Patti's life as a mother and housewife in Detroit, not even the dates of birth of her children.As a mom myself, that is the part I like best about the artists and musicians I admire, hearing about them as "people".I know not everyone shares my viewpoint, and it is quite obvious that that is a part of Patti's life that she chose to keep private, but still as a biography I just feel there is something missing and a large and obviously important part of her life (to her, as she has stated) is skipped over.Maybe that is a book waiting for Patti to write herself :)

All in all, I loved this book; it was a great intro to someone I just had a good feeling about, and continue to revere and follow to this day.And the photos are great too :)

Pedestrian & Uninspired Biography
Patti Smith has a life story so interesting and compelling that even an account this pedestrian and unispired is interesting at times. But that is because of the story of Patti Smith, rather than the writing here, which is barely above the level of the average People magazine article.

The author failed to conduct a single interview with Smith for the book. His entire "research" consists of reading other people's work- other articles and books. Hence nothing is new here and nothing feels particularly incisive or accurate.

The author prefers to list famous people who attended a performance, rather than offer any insight into what made that performance (the art itself) interesting or meaningful. He spends lots of time with catty references and lukewarm sexual gossip, and no time analizing what makes Smith's writing and performance so compelling year after year.

There is also an ongoing series of refernces to Patti being "mean" to Debbie Harry, like the two are jealous high school cheerleaders rather than important women in rock. These refernces are utterly pointless.

At the end of the book is the one interview the author ever did with Smith, in 1972 at her first poetry being published. Reading it entertaining, because you realize the author used every single word in the book itself, desperately trying to spread this pr puff piece long enough to make it seem as if he knows Smith and her world. Pathetic.

This effort is particularly galling because Patti Smith herself did so much (and does so much today) to stretch boundaries, to make new connections, to reinvent her chosen art forms. How unflattering a contrast then, to have this "biography" be so utterly dull witted and pedantic. A National Enquirer article would be more insightful.

The book also fails to take into account Patti Smith's tremendous sense of humor. Often the "source" being cited is a pr interview Smith gives as a book is being published or a record released. She says something really funny and facetious(probably to keep herself amused with inane questions). But the author doesn't get the joke and cites what Smith says as if it were some declaration of serious intent from on high, later contradicted by a different answer years down the road.

Finally, it takes balls for the author to imply Smith is pretentious while his own book jacket declares himself to be the "Poet Laureate of the New York Underground." I would like to see a recount of the election to that post.

Lackluster "Smith"
Despite some pretty good biographies of Bebe Buell, Blondie and Keith Richards, Victor Bockris strikes out in a big way with "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography." Focusing on the snippy, selfish and just plain weird, Bockris creates an unflattering portrait of Smith that doesn't offer any insights.

Patti Smith wasn't pretty or graceful, but her strong artistic leanings took her to New York in the cultural swirls of the 1970s. At first she was just a poet, although an outstandingly vivid one, and then she became a punk rocker with a unique look and style all her own. Upon her marriage to MC5 rocker Fresh Smith, Patti Smith vanished from the limelight for many years to be a quiet, obedient housewife... only to reappear when her husband died.

At first, Bockris starts off strong with descriptions of Smith's childhood rebellions and love of rock'n'roll (including as her blunt description of her first glimpse of the Rolling Stones). Then she first arrives in New York and becomes enmeshed in the gritty avant-garde gaggle of artists and musicians -- so far so good. But the story starts to unravel when music comes back into the picture.

When Smith's music comes onto the scene, Bockris distances himself. He sticks to her eccentricities and naster moments, with little emphasis on her music (such as her rivalry with Debbie Harry, which is never explained in full). The descriptions of Patti's husband, lovers and friends aren't very well-rounded -- we basically get a 2-D picture and that's it.

"Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is mainly patched together from interviews and articles. That's always a problem; it puts a distance between the biographer and subject. And some of Bockris' comments about Smith's marriage seem suspect, almost like he was determined to see it as a failure. He seems disappointed that she opted to be a housewife for awhile rather than a punk goddess.

Unbalanced and patched together from previous material, "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is a passable starting point, but by no means a good source for info on Smith's life and art.

It's not bad nor great.
I see that most of these people hate this book. I admit it has its faults. Lots of 'em. The cover is supremely nasty. Not really because Patti has her hands stuck down her pants. The authors manage to mention themselves enough to slightly annoy the reader, and Victor even put a picture of himself in it (of course Patti's in the picture, too, but you get the feeling there were LOTS more photos to choose from, and he just put that one in there to feel all special). More than a few times, we get bombarded with images of Patti enjoying carnal pleasures -by herself. I'm not easily offended, but it was just unnecessary. All of that other stuff already mentioned, it's informative, and it's really the only Patti Smith bio out there. All in all, an okay read. Plus, you can't beat the price- I just happened to see it in a store and was able to buy it with scrounged-up pocket money.

Huh?
For two people so associated w/punk rock music, it seems odd that Victor Bockris and Roberta Bayley could have written such a tepid account of Patti Smith. This book relies heavily on published interviews and sensationalistic accounts of her life that Patti has given to journalists over the years. Bockris and Bayley paint her as controlling in some instances and a pushover in others, often in their attempts to discover her motivations. Not only that, but could they have chosen a more unattractive photo of Patti to adorn the book jacket? Patti had nothing to do w/this book and if you want the real deal, buy her collections of poetry, Early Work and The Coral Sea, and her complete lyric collection, which has tons of photos and some of Patti's journal notes from over the years. ... Read more

Product Description
Described as the perfect fusion of poetry and garage band rock and roll (the original concept was "rock and Rimbaud"), Horses belongs as much to the world of literary and cultural criticism as it does to the realm of musicology. While Horses pays homage to the record's origins in the nascent New York punk scene, the book's core lies in a detailed analysis of Patti Smith's lyrics and includes discussions of lyrical preoccupations: love, sex, gender, death, dreams, god, metamorphosis, intoxication, apocalypse and transcendence. Philip shaw demonstrates how Horses transformed the possibilities of both poetry and rock music; and how it achieved nothing less than a complete and systematic derangement of the senses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Probably not the best way to approach a rock and roll record
Patti Smith's masterpiece *Horses* is probably more deserving than most rock and roll records of serious academic study, especially given that Smith steeped herself in both high culture and rock history before making it.The best parts of the book are its artistic biography of Smith prior to its release.

On the other hand, the book relies heavily on the "theory" of Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, and other late twentieth century noncemongers, whose melange of Marx and Freud persuaded the academic Left to waste its days in unintelligible, irrelevant indolence for a time.This hurts.

Shaw, for example, makes note of the androgyny of Mapplethorpe's dramatic cover photograph.He's not the first to notice.He relates it quite properly to the dandyism cultivated by French symbolist poets such as Rimbaud and Baudelaire, artists that rank high in Smith's constellation of high culture influences.He goes on to describe the photograph as a statement that the "phallus is no more privileged than any other signifier", which does not appear to be meaningful, much less insightful.I'm not sure it contributes to understanding, even if kicking the privileged phallus is always fun.And he misses entirely the opportunity to compare Mapplethorpe's stark androgyny with the somewhat more baroque androgyny of male artists like David Bowie or Marc Bolan, which would appear to be immediately relevant in the context of Smith's Max's Kansas City days.

The high themes of sexuality and mortality run through the record.A Freudian take on the record is certainly a valid approach given these themes. Shaw's text is quite helpful when it doesn't go adrift in the lotus land of deconstruction.When it does, you can skip ahead a bit without missing anything.

Seminal Album
I recently read Philip Shaw's 33 1/3 book length essay on Patti Smith's seminal album Horses.Shaw is a Reader in the English Department at the University of Leicester; therefore his analysis is rife with theorists like Lacan, Benjamin, Freud, Jung, and others. But I think the real strength of his book lies in the biographical sketches he provides about her early life and development as an artist. Shaw does an admirable job with explaining how Smith got tot eh point where she could record an album like Horses and provided insight into the background and lyrics of the songs. For example I was unaware that "Redondo Beach" was code for a gay beach in the LA area. It was interesting to hear her past with people like Sam Shepard and the whole downtown scene. I find many of Smith's songs timeless-and the ones from this album include "Land," "Gloria," and "Redondo Beach." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The 70's revisited but just as poignant today.
Patti Smith, one of the icons of the 70's, shares her insights into a changing world by using prose and poetry, some of which she turned into wonderful songs.10,000 Maniacs covered her hauntingly beautiful "Because the Night" (Belongs to Lovers).Also included are incredible photos and drawings.Her poems include "radio ethiopia", "alien to alien", "sister morphine", "pipe dreams", "mohammedia", "corps de plane" and "babel".She cuts right into the heart and soul of the era.

Great early writing from Patti Smith
Portions of this collection also appear in Patti Smith's more recent EARLY WORK.Nonetheless, BABEL is another essential item for Smith's fans, delving into her mythologial fascinations with intriguing results.A number of snapshots - everything from family photos to candids of icons like Marianne Faithfull are scattered throughout.

-David Alston ... Read more

Product Description
Actress Jessica Lange’s career spans more than 30 years and 30 films; the winner of two Academy awards, the one-time waitress is one of the most acclaimed performers of both the screen and the stage, as well as one of the most recognizable faces. 50 Photographs, however, finds Lange on the other side of the camera. Originally drawn to the medium simply as a way to document the lives and growth of her children, Lange has now been photographing on and off for 15 years, approaching the art as an antidote to the constant fervor of Hollywood. "It is a way of working," she says of her process, "that is the opposite of acting. Photography doesn’t depend on collaboration; it can be solitary and private." A 2007 feature in Aperture, introduced by Mary Ellen Mark, gave the world its first taste of Lange’s visual work; now, 50 Photographs gathers her impressive portfolio, featuring images from Mexico, Africa, Romania, Russia, Finland, Italy, and France as well as the U.S., into her first-ever photography monograph. Alternately comforting and disquieting, Lange’s striking black-and-whites possess a kind of moody mystery that is appropriately cinematic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

An Artist's Sensibility
Jessica Lange, one of this country's most daring, sensitive and subtle actresses, is first and foremost an artist's artist.In keeping with her ability to find the micro corners of the characters she explores and brings to life on stage and screen Lange approaches her intuitive vision and observations of the world in a similar manner in an important hobby - photography.Begun as a means to document the growth of her family Lange has extended her interest in observing the human phenomenon and the neglected spaces on the planet in her decision to carry her camera to the various locations throughout the world, gathering these fifty photographs here published without the usual ballyhoo that accompanies a 'star's project'.

Lange elects to use a fast film and prefers available light as opposed to the staginess of flash and reflectors so important in her acting episodes.And in selecting this combination of factors she is able to capture dramatic moments which ring of melancholy, privacy, solitude, and acts that appear spontaneous and quite without audience.All of the photographs in this moody monograph are in black and white and each of the fifty selections is beautifully composed and respectfully frozen in time by an artist whose hallmark has always been understatement.

Multiple viewings of this collection of works only serve to solidify Jessica Lange's importance as an artist of the camera.There is so much more in this series of quiet images that a single glance can retain.This is a beautiful body of work by a very gifted artist.Grady Harp, May 09

50 Photographs - Jessica Lange
What a remarkable and visually captivating collections of black and white photography! The technical quality and personal esthetic are bold and conscious.The result is a quiet, breathtaking social commentary; light and shadow insist that we look...and then we look again.In her other work, Lange demonstrateas her ability to carry, simultaneously, more than one emotion at a time. 50 Photograpghs left me longing to bare more. One comes face to face with the convolution of our humanity as it lies just beyond the vigilant gargoylian bulldog's underbite.Ultimately, it is the resolute dignity and love of subject that pulls one inside the pages.

Jessica is more than a movie star
I bought this book as a gift for my son for Christmas.I had to go through the entire book, to see Jessica's incredible photography.Any one that is a Jessica Lange fan would love to have this book. Or any one that loves B'W photo's.

So?
Sorry to say,but I think she should stick to her day job.There is nothing especially special about her work.If it wasn't her name ,I doubt if this book would sellmany copies.Check out the work of Jeff Bridges or Sammy Davis Jr. or Roddy MacDowellinstead.

The Very Talented Ms. Lange
Jessica Lange is a national treasure. Her progressive politics, her considerable acting talent and now this -- an absolutely gorgeous book of photographs. She is not afraid of depicting loneliness (a universal human feeling) or displaying her melancholy through these exquisite photographs. All 50 of them are gems. Like herself, this book is a treasure. ... Read more

Product Description
The release of any new material by legendary poet and musician Patti Smith, either written or recorded, is cause for celebration. But last fall, when Smith released her lyrics in a lavishly illustrated and annotated book, crowds turned out in record numbers across the country at book festivals, libraries, and local clubs to celebrate this artist's magnificent and ongoing journey in words and music. The Chicago Tribune describes Patti Smith Complete as "a collection of her songwriting oeuvre, notes, and unpublished photos by Robert Mapplethorpe and Annie Liebovitz, and countless memorabilia from the complex life of this nearly fifty-two-year-old image of American individuality."

Now in paperback, in a beautifully designed package, here are the words and pictures that influenced a generation from the fever pitch of performance to the solitude of the artist. Never has a collection of lyrics offered up images from a lifetime as intimate and forthright as those collected in Patti Smith Complete.
Amazon.com Review
Patti Smith, pioneering punk diva, has always worshipped atthe altar of the word, and she opens this book with a quote from hermentor and friend, the late Allen Ginsberg: "The typewriter is holythe poem is holy the voice is holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy isholy." If that is true, then this volume serves as Smith's Book ofCommon Prayer, containing all the lyrics from her past sevenalbums, and spanning two and a half decades.She picks out bothsalient and arcane compositions and annotates them with an unstintingeye for detail and history, allowing us to stand a moment in herflat-heeled karate shoes and see what inspired her to pen these songs.Who among us suspected that 1971's "Redondo Beach," with itsgrizzly images of loss and suicide, was written about an argumentSmith had with her sister?In addition to the thumbnail sketches andthe unexpurgated journal entries, Smith has collected more than 150photographs (some never before published) by the likes of AnnieLiebovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Michael Stipe, and Linda McCartney.There is one particularly disturbing image of the singer during herpainful recovery from a broken back, which she suffered as a result ofa stage fall in 1977, proving that there is little that the singer hasheld back in her effort to communicate who she is to her fans.

Whydid she go to all the trouble? According to Smith, her fans had beenclamoring for her to publish her lyrics for years, but until recentlyshe didn't feel she had a substantial enough body of work. Besides,she claims that she was tired of everyone else deconstructing hersongs and publishing what they thought she meant. "And they werealways inaccurate," she writes. So, now, Patti Smith is finally ableto set the record straight. --Jaan Uhelszki ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Just a word
This is hardly a review. I purchased the hardcover edition the moment it was released.

Her recent release of "Tramplin'" has reminded me...............

Patti Smith is one our our greatest living Poets (along with Lou Reed, Roger Waters and others).....................

If you don't already know that, buy this book !!!!!!!!!!!!!

"QUEEN OF THE PUNK ERA"
JUST ANOTHER MASTERED PIECE ABOUT THE PUNK GREAT ( PATTI SMITH )
ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BRILLIANTLY TALENTED WOMAN IS AN ART FORM OF IT'S OWN. I REMEMBER WHEN ( BECAUSE THE NIGHT CAME OUT, I WAS
A TEENAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL. MY FIRST IMPRESSION WAS I WANNA BE JUST LIKE HER. SHE IS ONE MUSICIAN OF POETRY, WHO IS ACTUALLY,
THE SAME AS HER MUSIC. WHAT CAN I SAY SHE HAS GIVEN ME THE PLEASURE OF HER TALENTED MUSIC FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS.
THIS BOOK IS DEFINATELY A CLASSIC IN ITSELF.
"PATTI" THE WOMAN,THE POET,THE CLASSIC MUSICIAN.

THE LYRICS AT LAST!
Through the years I have always been frustrated by the lack of a lyricsheet with Patti Smith's albums. I thought her marriage of poetry and rockdeserved better. And there were many parts of her songs that I justcouldn't make out, what with her broad NY drawl, so this book came as agodsend. And yes, I was invariably wrong in my guessing! So to the book:excellent photographs, insightful annotations and those wonderful songsthat work equally well on the printed page but really come alive with hermusic. Excellent design, typography, layout; highly recommended.

wonderful design nice shape book diff pics more than b4
thanks patti. love the book. everyone should have one.

Patti Smith's lyrics & insight from the artist
The definitive collection of lyrics from the 70's punk rocker, recently reborn in the 90's.Insight into her turbulent life from her perspective.The photos are stunning, however more of her stories to go with the lyricswould have made this book a 5.A must have for any PSG fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful Book!
Patti Smith is one of my all time favorite artists and I so enjoyed this book.
It is a great example of her early career as a poet and a precursor to her
career as a singer/songwriter.
I also loved the cover photo by Robert Mapplethorpe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

She Goes the Distance
There are few poets out there who really go the distance it takes to write something edgy, something rock n' roll. Patti Smith achieves this with every phrase she utters. Seventh Heaven was such a great foreshadow at the future she had ahead of her long before she ever became a rock star. The most interesting aspect of this collection of poems could be her use of gender. In some poems like "Girl Trouble," she basically writes as a male. In others, she describes all the pains involved with being female.
Patti Smith is so in touch with icons that she creates perfect pictures of Marianne Faithfull, Edie Sedgwick and others through her poetry. This is a poetry book you can pick up and read over and over again. It haunts you and it stays with you. Patti Smith has been instrumental in creating a new type of poetry that is rock n' roll. Seventh Heaven is the perfect introduction to her writings and music. ... Read more

Product Description
“Frank always shot your internal life. He let your external imperfections show. His photos had a purity and poetry; there was some humor…” - Bruce Springsteen
Patti Smith was a favorite photographic subject for Frank Stefanko during his college years. “Patti had jet-black hair and pale blue eyes that could see right through you. When I visited New York, I started photographing Patti, I was captivated by her look…tall, thin, with porcelain skin, sharp features, and those piercing eyes. With me, in terms of portraits, it’s always the eyes first, then the rest of the face comes into view.”
Patti Smith came to prominence during the punk rock movement in the 1970s, with her highly regarded 1975 debut album, Horses. She has been called "punk rock's poet laureate" because of her feminist sensibilities and intellectual approach to her music. As a result, she is one of rock and roll's most influential female musicians, and according to Rolling Stone, one of ”The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” Among some of Patti Smith’s early influences were Robert Mapplethorpe, Jim Carroll and Tom Verlaine. She spent the early 1970s painting, writing, and performing spoken-word poetry- frequently at the St. Marks Poetry Project. By 1974, she was performing as a musician, initially with guitarist and rock archivist Lenny Kaye. The Patti Smith Group produced four albums in the 1970s, reaching #13 on Billboard’s Top 100 in 1978 with the single “Because The Night,” co-written with her friend Bruce Springsteen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Patti in Black & White All Over
Large format (12 ½ inches tall x 9 wide) black and white photographs. Mostly portraits, some
stage shots and a few of the band. Stefanko has known Ms. Smith since they were youngsters and has made
photographing her a life-long vocation. This collection covers 1970-1980. Nearly all are posed. Some whimsical, others pensive, each presents a unique aspect of a multi-faceted woman and the band. The short essays include some funny anecdotes and insight into Stefanko & Smith's friendship. Highly recommend. Would make a great gift.Horses

Adorable!
I loved this book - a friend called and told me about it because he knew it was right up my alley, and I ran out and bought it right away!The photos are gorgeous, and it is very interesting to read the narrative of someone who knew her in her college days (a period of her life of which little is heretofore known) and obviously recognised her beauty immediately.I especially love the plentiful midriff shots, since she has the cutest tummy I've ever seen :)

I expected more on the life of Patti Smith
I am looking for a history of Patti Smith.This book was good, but I did not realize it was from a photographerspoint of view.It is verydifficult to find outhow she came to be in written form.Thephoto's are good, but repetitive.It is not one I will keep in my collection.

Fascinating and mesmerizing
These photos of Patti Smith have been called some of the most beautiful portraits ever taken of her.The book chronicles the early evolution of the "high priestess of punk" in pictures and story by her friend and photgrapher, Frank Stefanko.As an "American Artist", Patti's story follows an amazingly talented and multifaceted performer who moves from a small town in Jersey to the the Big Apple, where she hones her talents and finds her voice.She has become an icon for other female artists to emulate. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The story of musician Patti Smith's career. From her albums "Horses" to "Peace and Noise", it charts the lyrical journey of a poet and musician whose words have influenced a generation. There are nearly 150 photographs and Patti Smith includes her own artwork and mementoes from her journals. ... Read more