cestelaine's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I fell in love with Smith’s writing after reading M Train & adore her narration, prose & written thought process. The short fiction story in Devotion didn’t really do much for me though. Not a bad story ... just not for me.
Still love her.
I fell in love with Smith’s writing after reading M Train & adore her narration, prose & written thought process. The short fiction story in Devotion didn’t really do much for me though. Not a bad story ... just not for me.
Still love her.
sarahsalv0's review against another edition
5.0
I re-read this at least once a year simply because it somehow gets better every time… so quietly inspiring & beautiful.
vit1996's review against another edition
5.0
“Por que escrevemos? Irrompe um coro.
Porque não podemos somente viver.”
Porque não podemos somente viver.”
livvdh's review against another edition
3.0
not sure how to feel about this one patti? lovely writing but the story hmfp
offbalance80's review against another edition
3.0
While I often say that my love of Patti Smith's writing is massive and boundless, I may now have to qualify that to say that my love of Patti Smith's nonfiction is boundless. I could stand on street corners and harangue complete strangers into reading her absolutely perfect memoir Just Kids. It's a book so beautiful that it made me cry on the subway before 8am on a weekday. (Usually if I tear up under those circumstances, it has to do with a foul odor, or the knowledge that the week is far from over). Her memoir M Train (or as I call it, selections from what I wish had been Patti's Livejournal) was a complete delight, and surprised me in that I usually don't get that caught up in the minutiae of someone's everyday life so much; still, I was sad after we'd had our last cup of coffee together during those pages. So sad, that I'd tracked down Woolgathering, but the poetry kind of left me cold. No matter, I'd sort of lost my taste for the stuff after college, so I figured it was just me.
I was excited when Devotion was announced, and when it was explained to be a treatise about her writing and process (although she does delve into that in M Train a bit). I was absolutely over the moon when a dear friend invited me to hear Patti speak at a local reading that was handing out free copies of the new book, too. What a day! Patti read from the memoir section of Devotion (which involved a trip to France and all the meat, potatoes and coffee that made M Train so lovable) and spoke about how the rest of the slender volume was written in haste, against a deadline, as she was something at a loss as to how to describe the devotion of the process of writing in such a way. She turned to fiction to do so. She told us all about what she had been reading and watching and doing at the time, sang a few songs, and gave us a lovely evening. I could not WAIT to open this book.
The opening and closing sections were fantastic. I loved her agony over picking the right books to take on a trip (I feel her so much there) and about visiting "holy" sites of authors that meant something to her. Those sections are what earned this book three stars instead of two. It was when we delved into her fiction that the wheels fell off. I'm not really sure what an Estonian ice skater having an affair with an older guy that she may or may not be happy about having has to do with devotion to craft, but I do see a lot of the author's more "personal" likes and dislikes in there. Boy, do I ever.
I'm still hoping for another memoir of her time in Michigan raising a family, which I'm not sure will ever come, as I get the feeling she is private about some parts in her life. But if she ever decides to release another memoir about anything, or essays about anything, I will be first in line to buy it. Not sure I can say the same about her fiction.
I was excited when Devotion was announced, and when it was explained to be a treatise about her writing and process (although she does delve into that in M Train a bit). I was absolutely over the moon when a dear friend invited me to hear Patti speak at a local reading that was handing out free copies of the new book, too. What a day! Patti read from the memoir section of Devotion (which involved a trip to France and all the meat, potatoes and coffee that made M Train so lovable) and spoke about how the rest of the slender volume was written in haste, against a deadline, as she was something at a loss as to how to describe the devotion of the process of writing in such a way. She turned to fiction to do so. She told us all about what she had been reading and watching and doing at the time, sang a few songs, and gave us a lovely evening. I could not WAIT to open this book.
The opening and closing sections were fantastic. I loved her agony over picking the right books to take on a trip (I feel her so much there) and about visiting "holy" sites of authors that meant something to her. Those sections are what earned this book three stars instead of two. It was when we delved into her fiction that the wheels fell off. I'm not really sure what an Estonian ice skater having an affair with an older guy that she may or may not be happy about having has to do with devotion to craft, but I do see a lot of the author's more "personal" likes and dislikes in there. Boy, do I ever.
I'm still hoping for another memoir of her time in Michigan raising a family, which I'm not sure will ever come, as I get the feeling she is private about some parts in her life. But if she ever decides to release another memoir about anything, or essays about anything, I will be first in line to buy it. Not sure I can say the same about her fiction.