Patti Smith: A Biography

by Nick Johnstone

This biography traces the career of Patti Smith from home town poems to street performances in Paris, the highlife in New York, and life with her husband in Detroit. It covers the release of her debut album in 1975 and collaborations with people such as Bruce Springsteen.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Natalie Bayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography started quite well, but by the midpoint I felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page about Patti- all facts, supposition, and no real insights.
I’ll stick to her own, autobiographical books in future.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kind of pathos pervades this hagiography by Nick Johnstone, a music journo and Patti Smith tragic with whom she tactfully declined to collaborate. The story begins and ends in Père Lachaise Cemetery, a place of inspiration for Smith and, now, Johnstone, whose bio contains much filler in the form of speculation, whose theories tend to embarrass more than illuminate, and whose overwrought prose doesn’t do his idol justice.

Perhaps a myth is just an adult version of a child’s fairy tale (p. 13).

Capricorn’s [sic] typically have long noses, dark hair, bony body frames (especially around the knees and elbows), a strong character and are notorious seekers of power (pp. 14–15).

After years of searching for God and the one true love that would make her feel real, loved, whole and alive, and after her Tampa fall, Patti’s parched and dry voice offers self-sacrifice and resurrection via art: “I am the Spring, the Holy Ground, I am the Seed of Mystery, the thorn, the veil, the face of grace.” The astonishing images and phrases cascade out of her mouth, offering a tortured, naked insight into her personality (pp. 134–135).

The significance of many of the black-and-white photos – of Rimbaud, Modigliani, Mapplethorpe, Godard, Dylan, Patty Hearst, Edie Sedgwick, Jean Genet etc. – is secondary to the fact of Johnstone’s lack of access to more, or previously unseen, photos of Smith. Her memoir Kids may be just as fanciful in its way, but at least it’s a ravishing work of literature.

[Mike Balsom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly good biography, but Johnstone sets it up for failure, in the Forward, he tells us that he wrote the book without having a chance to interview the subject herself. The early chapters are mostly enjoyable, with a good analysis of Smith's childhood, her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, and her rise to punk stardom. These chapters use information from those who were there with Patti and flow well, shedding a little light on what made her tick and who her influences were.

However, in later chapters, those following the dates her "Dream of Life" and "Gone Again" album releases, Johnstone seems to basically be itemizing the appearances that the singer made month by month with little insight about her life beyond the shows. In fact, I didn't count, but there has to be at least a dozen instances where Johnstone states simply that Patti closed out the yer with a two-(orthree-)night stand at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC then started the following year with an appearance at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. It becomes a little tedious.

[Jose Sbuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

A summary of what Patti Smith has done so far. I've got a divided opinion about this book. On one hand it feels like the author is a proper fan, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He has an eye for details and makes interesting points about Patti Smith's poems and songs. You just can't read the book without listening to some Patti Smith every once in a while!

On the other hand, it seems the author didn't have much material to draw from. Patti Smith herself didn't participate, and the number of other people interviewed for the book is small. Nick Johnstone is left with the published works and newspaper articles and such. There's a lot of speculation as to _why_ Patti Smith made her life choices, what motivated her, and what were her objectives. It's not convincing.

Anyway, Patti Smith has lived a life worth a book or a few. She is a productive, charismatic artist who is in the Rock'n'roll Hall of Fame for a reason. I'd recommend this book to true fans.

[Pauline Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a lot of fine and informative detail on the artist’s life and I was drawn in to finish the book. I did find, though, as others have commented, that the final section of the book becomes a catalogue, albeit faithfully rendered, of her performance schedules year on year. It is interesting to see the development of her work in that way but it is a bit mechanical because it steps away from giving more personal insight at that point. Mind you, that would have created a work double the size! I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

god I wanna be her

[Linda Logsdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My admiration of Patti Smith

My reason for giving us a five is that it deserves . She, live a part of history that is just a glimpse of what freedom love discovery was all about . The people she met so casually at the Chelsea Hotel most my mind . She survived so much trauma of losing so many loved ones . Talking about a strong female image I think she's the strongest that you can get . She lost so many people in such a short time with two young children to raise . She still got up and rose to the occasion and went back to music and poetry and came to terms and looked at the death of all she loved a different way.

[Kizer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unlike Patti's other biographer Victor Brockris, Nick Johnstone seems to mean well. It's unfortunate for him and the reader he is so horribly ill informed. This book is full of factual errors. Like her other biography none of Patti's friends or family are interviewed for this book. So by the end of the book the author seems to be just filling space with his own conjecture. It reminds me of a badly written Jr. High School essay.

[Nicole Woolaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few facts in this biography I didn't read about it "Please Kill Me" or "Just Kids". However, I felt as though the author kept going off of the subject. The first two chapters were mostly about Rimbaud. I'm a HUGE Patti Smith fan, but I found myself struggling to finish this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this right out of high school. I was excited to read it but I remember being really disappointed.

[Sarah Vangheluwe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Na Just Kids en het concert wou ik nog iets lezen over Patti Smith. Het werd deze bio. Niet het onvergetelijkste boek, wel entertainend tijdens een weekje ziek zijn.

[Himmelkumov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly irritating book loaded with factual errors, bad writing and a weird fanboyish beginner rock journalist tone to it.