24 September 2023
By Juha(Lucy) Kim
Summary
Rock ‘n roll legend Patti Smith's memoir ‘Just Kids’ focuses on her extraordinary life during the second half of the twentieth century in New York City. All can be found in Just Kids, including her childhood, teenagehood, adulthood, her eloquent climb to the top, and her years of privacy with her family in the 80s. Scandalous love affairs with rock stars and poets, her ever-present devotion to her soulmate, Robert Mapplethorpe, and her own growing passion for artistry can also be seen throughout the novel.
Review
This book, first and foremost, is a memoir. Therefore, my thoughts on the literary elements of this book, such as the plot, rising action, conclusion, etc., do not mean anything at all. All I can base this book on is the life of Patti Smith itself. And her life was extraordinary. Almost tangible in its spectacularity. So authentic and worshipped is her life that it truly feels like fiction. I had to keep reminding myself as I was reading the novel that this was real, that it had actually happened. I have no other words to describe it. Her and Robert Mapplethorpe's rise to the top is a storybook tale of success. This novel presents almost everything people romanticize about the life of an artist. Tortured hours, and tortured artists, plus everything you'd expect on a young aspiring artist's Pinterest pins.
I was completely thrown off not only by the life of Patti Smith but also by the lives of people like her. The then-unknown and hopeful poets, up-and-coming rockstars like the velvet underground, failed artists, many of them. It felt like a fever dream reading about it, especially because becoming a celebrity then was a complete 180 from how you become a celebrity now. Now, there are social media and other channels of distribution, and it is easier than ever to find fame. Then it was much different. Then, bands played in underground clubs or bars; they lived in hotels filled with other artists trying to find work and luck any way they could. They had to be talented, extremely so, or else charismatic, and attractive to find any inkling of notability. Even then, nine times out of ten, you'd need to know someone who knew someone who knew how to get you famous.
Patti Smith lived for a while at a hotel called the Chelsea and it was there that she found her charm. Her luck (not to say that luck was the only reason for her acclaim) was incredible. She met people through Robert, through her friends, through the hotel, and through people she met on the streets, and they all pushed her into stardom. It's as though fate planned it from the start—her meet with fame. When I say that Patti Smith is the idol of millions, I really mean it. The tortured artist trope is a famous one and a very darkly romantic one. It includes lots of drugs to be sure, lots of death, lots of choosing records over food, being broke, and being immensely talented. Having a fervent love for an inanimate thing that would make you put everything on the line, it wouldn't even be a question. This type of life and personality has been incredibly sought after by people for hundreds of years. And Patti Smith had all of that and more. She is the definition of a ‘cool girl’. She somehow lays it all down on the page in a show-me-don't-tell-me way and yet still finds a way to protect her privacy and sanctity. To give you more information on how insane Patti Smith’s life was, I’ll list some examples. Having chats with Jimi Hendrix, partying with Janis Joplin, performing in front of Bob Dylan, being the leader of a successful rock band as a woman in the 70s, being the muse of a legendary photographer, and releasing multiple books of poetry. If you want to know what it's like to be completely in awe of someone and at the same time insanely jealous of their life and talents, read "Just Kids". This book will hook you from the start.