The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 22 February 2011
by Patti Smith
It would be difficult to convey the many layers of beauty in this deceptively spare memoir. Beginning in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, Patti Smith, now famous for her music and rock & roll poetry, was a prominent figure in an edgy New York art and music scene. She started out in New Jersey, and came to New York with nothing. Through adventure and misadventure on the streets, she came to meet young Robert Mapplethorpe, himself an artist trying to find his way in the big city. They were kindred spirits, and quickly fell into a deep friendship that was generous and understanding, the kind of friendship we should all wish for. The two teamed up to find food, shelter and work in a tough landscape. They served as each other's muses, each providing the other with emotional, spiritual and material support for their art. They were a pair dedicated to visions without compromise. This made life difficult, but they survived through tough times. And they made their presence felt in a swirling art scene, encountering prominent figures in art, literature and music.
Smith and Mapplethorpe lived together in the Chelsea Hotel, which was a hotbed of artistic and countercultural talent. They hung out in Max's, one of Andy Warhol's haunts. They met musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, and they experienced many of the crash-and-burn tragedies of drugs, artistic extremity, and personal demons. They were young, and also explored their sexual identities. Mapplethorpe became famous, and infamous, for his artistic exploration of gay sex and S&M. He emulated Warhol, and connected with wealthy patron Sam Wagstaff. Smith fell in with poets, musicians and playwrights like Sam Shepard, Gregory Corso, Alan Ginsburg, and others. Despite their diverse discoveries, Smith and Mapplethorpe remained intimate friends and utterly devoted to each other.
Smith's evocation of the time and place is direct, sympathetic and somehow effortless. Her depiction of their unique relationship is compassionate and gentle, unlike what one might expect from her frank performance style. She is able to describe Mapplethorpe's more extreme artworks without the layer of controversy and shock it so often evokes. She knows Mapplethorpe better than anyone. In the end, of course, Mapplethorpe died of AIDS in 1989. Smith's story here turns heartbreaking, and the text is steeped in their love. It is tender and revealing, vulnerable and beautiful. Though the memoir, as with many memoirs, leaves the reader with the sense that there is much left to tell, it is still a graceful arc of a remarkable friendship between two remarkable figures living through a remarkable time.
(For this book, Smith was awarded the 2010 National Book Award for non-fiction.)
Also by Patti Smith: [M Train]
See Also: [Inside the Dream Palace by Sherill Tippins]
[Other books by Women Authors]