Reader Score
88%
88% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 3 reviews on
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Variety, Pitchfork, PopSugar
In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message "Hello Everybody!" Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat, Cairo. Followers felt an immediate affinity with these miniature windows into Smith's world, photographs of her daily coffee, the books she's reading, the graves of beloved heroes--William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Simone Weil, Albert Camus. Over time, a coherent story of a life devoted to art took shape, and more than a million followers responded to Smith's unique aesthetic in images that chart her passions, devotions, obsessions, and whims. Original to this book are vintage photographs: anniversary pearls, a mother's keychain, and a husband's Mosrite guitar. Here, too, are photos from Smith's archives of life on and off the road, train stations, obscure cafés, a notebook always nearby. In wide-ranging yet intimate daily notations, Smith shares dispatches from her travels around the world.
With over 365 photographs taking you through a single year, A Book of Days is a new way to experience the expansive mind of the visionary poet, writer, and performer. Hopeful, elegiac, playful--and complete with an introduction by Smith that explores her documentary process--A Book of Days is a timeless offering for deeply uncertain times, an inspirational map of an artist's life.
"A Book of Days is a must-read for those who get a buzz out of mainlining Patti Smith’s creativity ... the book is structured as a calendar – 366 images: one for every day of the (leap) year ... It’s an experience as random and fascinating as the woman herself."
"“A Book of Days” rests in your hand like a box of high-end chocolates — pleasingly weighty, promising elegance and class alongside a touch of the bittersweet ... Think of it as a tear-off daily calendar, minus the stress of keeping up with page disposal."
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In her new volume A Book of Days, a collection of photographs and musings spanning a year’s worth of entries, Patti Smith has created a café in a book: 'full of odd nooks, scattered objects and a cast of characters'. Tap here to read our review: https://t.co/ZfUrm0KYld