Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Just Kids

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Just Kids by Patti Smith

30 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This was a really haunting and beautiful book. It took us through the life and death and eternal life of a friendship and relationship. Reading through the book didn’t make me cry, but thinking about it now is making me tear up.

The relational aspect of the book is much much more interesting to me than simply reading a book about Patti Smith’s rise to fame. This is such a unique and gorgeous read. The writing is superb.

Frankly, I am drawn to Patti Smith more as an author than as a poet or singer. Her prose is vulnerable and magnetizing.

The most successful element of this book for me is the way that she captures — in snapshots — her relationship with Robert. The least successful element of the book for me was the name droppy bits, where she would be like “and then Leonard Cohen used my napkin!”. Not that, but that.

Definitely want to read it again.

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hcnorris's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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marinagodleyfisher's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing slow-paced

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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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