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emabled's review against another edition
4.75
what a beautiful book. a love letter to art, and even more so a literal love letter from patti to robert. their story is rich and encompassing. you feel the need to pay attention while reading, you feel the eminence of robert and patti's significance.
i will say that the countless names, of famous musicians, poets, photographers, producers, etc. was what took me out of the story a bit. i am not well read in hollywood or adjacent culture, especially not that of the 60s-90s, so this had me very confused. there was, most of the time, apt description of these celebrities so i would have enough context to continue, but sometimes it was like i was expected to know these names and histories.
anyway, the prose was gorgeous. patti smith has poetry in her veins. her storytelling is captivating and gorgeous simultaneously, her love for others and theirs for hers so present in her recollections. i did just talk negatively about the constant name dropping, but i will say that it also creates a lovely metaphor: we are who we meet. we are mosaics of everyone we interact with. patti depicts that like a true artist.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction
brianareads's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Medical content and Pandemic/Epidemic
tellmemore's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness and Medical content
Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy
emtay's review against another edition
4.75
"Why can't I write something that would awake the dead?" (279)
"I had relieved the boy of responsibility... It is impossibke to exaggerate the sudden calm I felt. An overwhleming sense of mission eclipsed my fears" (18)
The only weakness is in the myriad of unexplained allusions to people in the scene, at some point, there are too many people whose eclectic influence on her life and not enough page. You have to accept the unknowing.
I am reminded of me and Jack. Of a love so deep I am not afraid of losing it. And when the love was young and ripe, I see me and Wes.
"I was there for these moments, but was so young and preoccupied with my own thoughts that I hardly recognized them as moments" (159).
"It seemed being an actor was like being a soldier: you had to sacrifice yourself to the greater good. You had to believe in the cause. I just couldn't surrender myself enough to be an actor" (165).
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Minor: Suicide
andrewhatesham's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
5.0
Mapplethorpe, but discovered something of myself in the process. Through this review I will try to put all of these emotions into words and give this book the justice it deserves.
Just Kids reflects on the profound relationship between the aforementioned artists: Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe. While their friendship is a key focus of the memoir, Patti Smith discovers her own path to art, which will take many forms over the course of her lifetime. It is a privilege to be accepted into her world- for however so briefly- and meander through the memories of a legend.
The beauty of art displayed within the book-romanticized by myself as a wannabe writer- is what almost instantly drew to the story. However, it is Smith’s ability to articulate the complexities of love and human kind which makes Just Kids a new favorite.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Medical content, and Cultural appropriation