Jenny's Bookshelf- Just Kids by Patti Smith

I don’t think I could ever say that a book was my absolute favourite because how the hell do I know? I haven’t read all of the books in existence; it would be impossible to say. However, this book has lived rent free in my head for the vast majority of 2025. I have carried it around with me as if it were a security blanket, I savoured the last 100 pages as I was so desperate for it to never end.

This book is beautifully written, it transports you to a time long forgotten, it had me yearning for a time I had never experienced. You are placed right at the heart of an artistic movement in New York City and brought along for the inevitable ups and downs of a life of an artist. This book made me feel joy, sorrow, pain and empowerment, sometimes all at the same time. I am not sure I am capable of explaining how immersive and wonderful an experience it was to read this book. Alas, I will try my hardest.

Last year I wrote a review of Patti Smith's Horses, with little to no knowledge of the woman behind it. I had seen her book ‘Just Kids’ hundreds of times on the shelves with 'Best Seller' emblazoned on it. I had decided to pick it up on one of my many wanders around Waterstones based on its accolades alone. As I mentioned in my review of Horses, before then I had only known Patti Smith to be an American musician, an oft referenced barometer of coolness. The book follows Patti as she moves from her hometown of Chicago to New York. It chronicles the people she meets along the way and the lessons she learns en route. However, it is not just about her. It is a biography and tribute to her dear friend Robert Mapplethorpe. 

I did not know anything about Robert Mapplethorpe before reading.

Smith meets him early on in her days in New York and the book follows them on their journey. Robert Mapplethorpe is an artist trying to hone his craft and carve a place for himself within Andy Wharhol's orbit. It is a celebration of artists and the trials and tribulations of pursuing a life devoted to art. 

Smith's writing is incredibly beautiful and her love for the city of New York is weaved into the pages. She has a knack for name dropping without it feeling like name dropping. The sheer number of iconic artists she came into contact with during that time is astounding. The writing made me feel nostalgic for a time I have never experienced.

I will admit I was somewhat jealous that Smith could work in a bookshop and pay rent in New York. I doubt this is possible in modern day New York. Having said that, Smith does not shy away from the shadowy side of the story. So much of Patti and Robert's story is entangled in tragedy. She details the squalor they lived in while they were not able to make money. The kindness of her friends and strangers who would take her out for coffee just to make sure she had eaten that week.

 We are invited into Patti and Robert's sometimes unorthodox relationship. Their relationship is fluid, but they remain connected throughout. They play the role of muse and artist for one another interchangeably. They are both incredibly sentimental and push each other to keep improving throughout. There are times when they are in relationships with other people but acknowledge that they gravitate towards each other and fulfil different roles throughout their intense friendship.

In the beginning, it feels to me that Robert is a lot more certain about who he is and where he fits in the world, or should I say where he perceives he fits in the world. At first, Patti seems to know she wants to create but does not know her preferred form, she takes us through the various phases of her creativity, culminating in her eventually songwriting and performing as the Patti Smith we know today.

As well as detailing their working, living and experiencing life together Smith details Robert’s health decline and the devastating impact that has on her. Mapplethorpe died On March 9, 1989, due to HIV/AIDS related complications.

‘Every fear I had once harboured seem to materialise with the suddenness of a bright sail bursting into flames. My youthful premonition of Robert crumbling into dust returned with pitiless clarity.’

The book acts as a heart-breaking tribute to a man dedicated to the pursuit of creativity, a man who liked to push boundaries and test the limits of what was possible within his artform. It was a privilege to be invited into their world through Patti’s words. Both of them are truly inspirational. Smith is an extremely talented writer as well as performer and I aspire to be able to write something even a fraction as beautiful as ‘Just Kids’.

As I often say when I write these book reviews, I find them extremely difficult. I do not want to regurgitate what has already been written a million times better than I could possibly dream of. With this one, I urge anyone and everyone I come across to read it, it is truly remarkable.

Since turning the final page of this wonderful book, I have struggled to delve into new worlds due to the lasting impression of ‘Just Kids’. Luckily, my newfound obsession with Patti Smith need not end there, I already have two more of her books patiently waiting for me. Not only that, but Smith is a prolific writer and there is much more of her work that I will be able to explore in the future.