Just Kids
Patti Smith
Harper Collins
2010
Ms. Hen decided to read this book at the end of June during
the lightest days of the year because she read Patti Smith’s other memoir, M
TRAIN during the darkest time last
December. As she has said before, she is not a fan of Patti Smith’s music, but
she has become a fan of her writing.
This book is about Ms. Smith’s relationship with the
photographer and artist Robert Mapplethorp when they were young. She arrived in
New York, having just given up a child for adoption, and she didn’t know that
many people, and she got together with Robert because he saved her from going
on a date with a creepy science fiction writer. They fell in love, and
soon after moved in together. They worked at odd jobs, she, mostly at a
bookstore, and him at other jobs, while they tried to find their medium and
their voices in art.
Patti and Robert moved to different places while they were
together. The most significant was the Chelsea Hotel, where they paid too much
money for a small room, but the place was filled with all types of artistic
people they could socialize with and garner inspiration from. Robert was in the
process of dealing with his sexuality and finding out that he was a homosexual,
even though the couple was still together. Patti writes great anecdotes, such
as the time she went to buy a sandwich at the Automat, and Allen Ginsberg
bought it for her because she didn’t have enough money, and she thought it was
because he thought she was a boy, and he was trying to pick her up.
Some people might read this book, and think that Ms. Smith
wrote this to prove how cool she was, with all the fascinating people she met
in New York in the 60s and 70s, but Ms. Hen doesn’t think this is the case. She
thinks Smith wrote this to describe her life; she didn’t always have enough
money to eat, and she and Robert struggled to make the rent and find enough
money for food and essentials. Ms. Hen doesn’t believe Smith thinks she was
cool, and it’s the people who don’t think they’re cool who are cool. Ms. Hen
has known people in her life who aspire to coolness, but she thinks aspirations
will get a person nowhere, coolness just happens. Ms. Hen is not a hen who is
cool, so she will never know. Some people might think she’s cool, but she knows
that she is just a weird hen who lives day to day.
This is a memoir about two people finding their medium and
the best way to express themselves through art. It took a while for Patti to
come to music to be a singer in a band, and it also took time for Robert to
discover himself with photography. Robert died young from AIDS. He was gay, but
he and Patti always had a special relationship and were good friends until he
died.
Ms. Hen thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. It paints a picture
of a time and place that does not exist anymore. Patti Smith is still alive and
thriving; Ms. Hen started following her on Instagram recently, and she is
touring in Europe, which impresses Ms. Hen. To be that age and still have the energy
to get on stage and sing, is something astounding. Ms. Hen believes in
art and people who are not afraid to live their lives. You can sleep when it’s
over, or some people might say. For now, keep dancing and thriving.
Addendum
Ms. Hen took a writing workshop recently, and she learned
(again) about ekphrastic poetry, or poetry written about and inspired from art.
Ms. Hen decided to write a poem about one of the photos in this book. The photo
is of Patti and Robert holding each other on a fire escape. Here it is:
After West Twenty-third street fire escape
Skinny, we clutch
each other,
not always enough money
to eat, but we feed on love
most of the time.
We don’t realize our hair
will be considered ridiculous in the future,
we might never know since we live
in the moment,
all we desire
is to learn how to express
what’s morphed the world
into either chaos
or bewilderment.
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