Patti Smith is famous for her amazing music career, of course.
But she’s also highly regarded for her first memoir, “Just Kids,” which won lots of awards. It told the story of her early days in New York with artist Robert Mapplethorpe and actor/writer/director Sam Shepherd.
Now she’s got a new memoir coming in November called “Bread of Angels.” This one covers her childhood, and later her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith. Random House publishes it on November 4th.
On Substack, Patti has shared a copy of the book cover, a 1979 photo taken by Mapplethorpe. On the Substack she also shares an audio reminiscence of the photo.
For some reason, vanityfair.com lifted the whole thing without credit. But the news comes from Patti, and we can’t wait to hear more!
Here’s what she wrote, and a link to the audio:
Hello everyone,
My publisher, Random House, has sent me the design for the cover of my next book. The cover image is a photograph that Robert Mapplethorpe took in 1979. It was taken at One Fifth Avenue in the penthouse apartment of his love and patron, Sam Wagstaff.
The publishing date was chosen by my publisher, not realizing it’s significance. November 4th was Robert’s birthday, and the passing day of my beloved husband Fred Sonic Smith. The audio of this post will tell more about the photograph. Let me know your thoughts. Have a good day, I will be recording the audio book all week, but will send another message soon.
