I started and finished A Sense of Direction in one evening; I couldn't really stop thinking about it, so I couldn't put it down. I found it...
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I kept reading "Just Kids" slower as I went along, because I never wanted this book to end. It's a memoir of Patti Smith's life, from childhood to adulthood... but also a remembrance and contextualization of her friendship with another young creative person who she loved deeply, Robert Mapplethorpe. And it's a portrait of a very particular moment in the history of New York City's artist class -- bringing to life the poverty, creativity, friendship, desperation, beauty and love that she found there. Wonderful, wonderful book. Goes to number two in my favorite memoirs ever -- beneath Michael Herr's "Dispatches," and above Julia Child's "My Life in France."
This is one of the best books I've ever read, and gives great insight into the Vietnam War, and how it changed America's perception of itself. Written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, careening from one supersaturated image to another, one story to the next, it is almost impossible to put down.
For a companion piece, buy "Requiem," featuring the work of photojournalists killed or MIA during the Vietnam War (edited by Tim Page). Seeing the pictures taken by people referenced in Herr's book is rather overwhelming.
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Just Kids by Patti Smith
emlewis, January 1, 2012
I kept reading "Just Kids" slower as I went along, because I never wanted this book to end. It's a memoir of Patti Smith's life, from childhood to adulthood... but also a remembrance and contextualization of her friendship with another young creative person who she loved deeply, Robert Mapplethorpe. And it's a portrait of a very particular moment in the history of New York City's artist class -- bringing to life the poverty, creativity, friendship, desperation, beauty and love that she found there. Wonderful, wonderful book. Goes to number two in my favorite memoirs ever -- beneath Michael Herr's "Dispatches," and above Julia Child's "My Life in France."Dispatches by Michael Herr
emlewis, February 26, 2009
This is one of the best books I've ever read, and gives great insight into the Vietnam War, and how it changed America's perception of itself. Written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, careening from one supersaturated image to another, one story to the next, it is almost impossible to put down.For a companion piece, buy "Requiem," featuring the work of photojournalists killed or MIA during the Vietnam War (edited by Tim Page). Seeing the pictures taken by people referenced in Herr's book is rather overwhelming.
(3 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)