Barnes & Noble is running a Buy 2 Get 1 Free paperbacks sale right now. Four titles I will personally vouch for:
Patti Smith, JUST KIDS
Lily Koppel, THE RED LEATHER DIARY
Simon Winchester, THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN
Bill Bryson, SHAKESPEARE: THE WORLD AS STAGE
2 days ago
3 comments:
ok, truth time, book-person. Are patti smith's books good? I lovelove Radio Ethiopia, but is her telling stories growing up knowing other famous people seriously the best literature going? Or is there something going on in whcih the literary establishment misses New York of the 70s/80s and she taps into that.
JUST KIDS is not the best literature going, and yeah, to some extent it does tap into nostalgia. The name-dropping didn't bother me, though; she doesn't seem all that impressed by most of the people she meets, so it's descriptive rather than meant to make an impression.
It does romanticize the experience of living in New York City broke and making art in the '70s somewhat, but it's the closest thing to an artist's autobiography to go mainstream in a long time -- and that's what I saw in it. It's so rare to read a memoir that's so much about process and inspiration, and for me that loomed larger than who Smith ran out on the check at Max's Kansas City with.
ok. thanks!
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