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Title: Patti Smith : An Unauthorized Biography by Victor Bockris, Roberta Bayley ISBN: 0-684-82363-2 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.36 (11 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Touched By Fire
Comment: I just finished this book & I have mixed feelings about it.
The book is based on interviews that Smith and others have given over the years--it is not so much a biography as a pastiche. While I had the feeling that Bockris tried to maintain a fair account of Smith's life, I often felt that there was too much conjecture by the authors & by people who claim to have known Smith.
It is an interesting note that he wrote Blondie's biography as well. Pattie Smith & Blondie are not on good terms and never have been. According to Bockris, this is Pattie's fault & Blondie has done her best to ignore Pattie's hostility--true? Who knows?
I also wonder about Bockris/Bayley's account of Pattie's marriage to Fred. I had always heard that it was a happy one, based on mutual love & respect for each other & their art--this book claims that Fred was a drunk and suggests that he may have even been phyiscally abusive?
The authors also spend a lot of time on Pattie's physical appearance, partiucularly during the time of her comeback--by suggesting that she looked old & haggard, the authors claim that this is evidence of her unhappy life with Fred & her kids. Seems a bit fishy to me, although the idea came from Wayne Kramer and others.
I do not regret reading this book as there are many interviews quoted directly--those interviews provide some insight into Smith's music & philosophy, even if she does sound like she is on acid at times.
Also, I thought the descriptions of her concerts and onstage antics were accurate--I actually saw Pattie perform in Atlanta a couple of years ago (just before Bob Dylan, ironically enough, with whom Smith has had a long & productive friendship)& her concert was the one of the closest things to a religous experience I have ever had. She left the crowd in awe--some teenage girls in front of me didn't know who she was & we ended up having a nice conversation about her. Pattie is still reaching people after all these years--which is why people want to read about her.
Rating: 2
Summary: Lackluster "Smith"
Comment: Despite some pretty good biographies of Bebe Buell, Blondie and Keith Richards, Victor Bockris strikes out in a big way with "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography." Focusing on the snippy, selfish and just plain weird, Bockris creates an unflattering portrait of Smith that doesn't offer any insights.
Patti Smith wasn't pretty or graceful, but her strong artistic leanings took her to New York in the cultural swirls of the 1970s. At first she was just a poet, although an outstandingly vivid one, and then she became a punk rocker with a unique look and style all her own. Upon her marriage to MC5 rocker Fresh Smith, Patti Smith vanished from the limelight for many years to be a quiet, obedient housewife... only to reappear when her husband died.
At first, Bockris starts off strong with descriptions of Smith's childhood rebellions and love of rock'n'roll (including as her blunt description of her first glimpse of the Rolling Stones). Then she first arrives in New York and becomes enmeshed in the gritty avant-garde gaggle of artists and musicians -- so far so good. But the story starts to unravel when music comes back into the picture.
When Smith's music comes onto the scene, Bockris distances himself. He sticks to her eccentricities and naster moments, with little emphasis on her music (such as her rivalry with Debbie Harry, which is never explained in full). The descriptions of Patti's husband, lovers and friends aren't very well-rounded -- we basically get a 2-D picture and that's it.
"Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is mainly patched together from interviews and articles. That's always a problem; it puts a distance between the biographer and subject. And some of Bockris' comments about Smith's marriage seem suspect, almost like he was determined to see it as a failure. He seems disappointed that she opted to be a housewife for awhile rather than a punk goddess.
Unbalanced and patched together from previous material, "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is a passable starting point, but by no means a good source for info on Smith's life and art.
Rating: 3
Summary: It's not bad nor great.
Comment: I see that most of these people hate this book. I admit it has its faults. Lots of 'em. The cover is supremely nasty. Not really because Patti has her hands stuck down her pants. The authors manage to mention themselves enough to slightly annoy the reader, and Victor even put a picture of himself in it (of course Patti's in the picture, too, but you get the feeling there were LOTS more photos to choose from, and he just put that one in there to feel all special). More than a few times, we get bombarded with images of Patti enjoying carnal pleasures -by herself. I'm not easily offended, but it was just unnecessary. All of that other stuff already mentioned, it's informative, and it's really the only Patti Smith bio out there. All in all, an okay read. Plus, you can't beat the price- I just happened to see it in a store and was able to buy it with scrounged-up pocket money.
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Title: Patti Smith Complete: Lyrics, Notes and Reflections by Patti Smith ISBN: 0385490801 Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday Pub. Date: 19 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Early Work: 1970-1979 by Patti Smith ISBN: 0393313018 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Two Times Intro : On the Road With Patti Smith by Michael Stipe ISBN: 0316815721 Publisher: Little Brown & Co Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title:Trampin' ASIN: B0001UGD8M Publisher: Sony Pub. Date: 27 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $18.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.49 |
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Title: The Coral Sea by Patti Smith ISBN: 0393039080 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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