Just Kids

Published in 2010, the memoir chronicles Patti Smith's intense relationship with the controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. It focuses on their formative years surviving in the late 1960s and 1970s New York City art and counterculture scene.

Yes, the book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010. Critics highly praised it for its evocative prose and its vivid, affectionate portrait of a bygone era in New York City, specifically at the infamous Chelsea Hotel.

Yes, the memoir spans up until Mapplethorpe's death from complications of AIDS in 1989. Smith promised Mapplethorpe on his deathbed that she would one day write the story of their time together, which became the impetus for this memoir.

The memoir features appearances by iconic cultural figures who were part of their bohemian circle, such as beat poet Allen Ginsberg, artist Andy Warhol, and playwright Sam Shepard. It vividly captures the atmosphere of the legendary Max's Kansas City and the Chelsea Hotel.