Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Just Kids

I saw Patti Smith in Brooklyn right after Christmas 2023 and was blown away at her stage presence and how great her voice still is, so I was hoping Just Kids would be as wonderful. It did not disappoint. I understand why it won a National Book Award. Anyone interested in late 60s-early 70s rockers and the New York art scene during that same time period should read it.

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theinkdrinkerhouse's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

For a nonfiction read, 5 stars. However, I’d dock it a 0.5 on a personal thing due to moments where I had to research people she was referring since there were names I either had no idea or knew of them but not their name. So, it took me out of my immersion at times. But, once again, personal experience issue and not the book.

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emabled's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

i never read non fiction. i picked this book up purely because a single person said it was good. instinct drove me to read it and i'm very glad i did.

what a beautiful book. a love letter to art, and even more so a literal love letter from patti to robert. their story is rich and encompassing. you feel the need to pay attention while reading, you feel the eminence of robert and patti's significance.

i will say that the countless names, of famous musicians, poets, photographers, producers, etc. was what took me out of the story a bit. i am not well read in hollywood or adjacent culture, especially not that of the 60s-90s, so this had me very confused. there was, most of the time, apt description of these celebrities so i would have enough context to continue, but sometimes it was like i was expected to know these names and histories.

anyway, the prose was gorgeous. patti smith has poetry in her veins. her storytelling is captivating and gorgeous simultaneously, her love for others and theirs for hers so present in her recollections. i did just talk negatively about the constant name dropping, but i will say that it also creates a lovely metaphor: we are who we meet. we are mosaics of everyone we interact with. patti depicts that like a true artist.

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smarie_03's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25

This book makes it so abundantly clear that Patti Smith is one ruled by the heart. Smith's emotions rise off the page, seeping out between the margins and aching to be felt by the reader. The true love between Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe is the kind of unflinching, unconditional camaraderie that most could only wish for.

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amelody's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.5

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auxrora's review against another edition

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inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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chrissysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Really enjoyed Patti Smith's biography, I read it without knowing anything about her or Robert. So melancholic but has a deep sense of nostalgia towards a time I wasn't even alive. Beautifully poetic and raw.

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