_Lost in Words . . .

_I literally cant put down Patti Smith's memoir of her and Robert Mapplethorpe's friendship- 'Just Kids: From Brooklyn to the Chelsea Hotel, a Life of Art and Friendship' A book that she apparently promised him she would write on his death bed. Smith writes about her relationship with Mapplethorpe in the late and early 1970s before they became famous. It's fascinating to read about these two icons before they realized who the were or wanted to be. Its hard not to think of Smith as a poet rebel, guitar in hand or Mapplethorpe as the in your face artist, but Smith's book takes the reader back to when both were "Just Kids." You see Smith and Mapplethorpe as young people, not always secure in who they are, groping to find their passions that were burning inside but not fully understood. In this memoir Smith also presents a picture of a New York that no longer exists, and that alone makes this wonderful reading. Not all song writers can successfully write lyrics as well as prose, Smith though has a gift with the written word that is transcendent. Heart felt and honest, like her music, I highly recommend this book.