The noted poet, singer, and songwriter won the National Book award for her 2010 memoir. In it, Smith recounts a bit of her pre-New York life, but the memoir really begins with her move to the city in 1967. Starting out there, broke and somewhat desperate, the author relied on friends and kind strangers to help her get by as she searched for work and a place to stay. She reminds the reader of how devastated many were when Coltrane died in July of that year. Smith does an excellent job of painting a picture of hope and borderline despair in the summer in New York; a hot city in a turbulent time. Strange to hear that the Doors were such an influence on her as a young woman.Smith finds a job at a Brentano's bookstore and there meets Ropert Mapplethorpe. A short while later Mapplethorpe saves Smith from a creepily awkward date and their lives together begin. The couple live and work together as their art becomes their focus. At first they're lovers, but Robert realizes he's attracted to men and Patti meets others, including Sam Sheppard when he was drumming with the band The Holy Modal Rounders.
An excellent book that evokes a time and a place. The people who pass through the story are amazing; Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Alan Ginsburg, and Jim Carroll all appear. I read this after finishing her third and then her second autobiographical works, Year of the Monkey and M Train. I listened to both of her later works on Overdrive; Smith is an sublime narrator, telling her stories with a raspy sincerity that adds a layer of intimacy to the work.
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