Anyone who grew up or hung out in New York City in the 70's and 80's will take this treasure chest of a book and keep it under their pillow. Sure it's about iconic figures like Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe and sure it mentions great characters as William Burroughs, Allen Ginsburg, Jim Carroll, Sam Shepard, Andy Warhol, etc. But this book is more than that it's about love between people and the city that embraced them when everything seemed possible before the gentrification, the Tompkins's park rebellion, or the Ghouliani years.
Smith's writing is eloquent and from the streets. Brutally honest from the rural farmlands and industrial working class towns of South Jersey to the naked streets of the Lower East Side, Smith finds beauty under every crevice and dingy apartment.
But the heart of this book of course is the special relationship and maturation of two great artists and I don't think anyone could have capture this more beautifully.
Smith's writing is eloquent and from the streets. Brutally honest from the rural farmlands and industrial working class towns of South Jersey to the naked streets of the Lower East Side, Smith finds beauty under every crevice and dingy apartment.
But the heart of this book of course is the special relationship and maturation of two great artists and I don't think anyone could have capture this more beautifully.
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