Patti Smith, the legendary singer-songwriter and National Book Award-winning author, is on the cusp of releasing her new memoir. Titled Bread of Angels, it will be published on November 4. This new volume is to be a follow-up to her award-winning memoir, Just Kids. It will take her back to her formative experiences in the working-class neighborhoods of Philadelphia and South Jersey. The date of release is particularly significant. It happens to be the anniversary of her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith’s death, as well as the birthday of her good friend, the late great photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
At her keynote at the New Yorker Festival in 2015, Smith revealed that she was in fact working on this sequel. She said she wanted to show the hidden parts of her life. With “Bread of Angels,” she hopes to trace the contours of that formative experience. She wants to get the word out about her marriage to Fred Smith, BG on guitar for Detroit’s legendary MC5. The memoir will trace their shared journey through their relocation to Michigan where they raised their multiracial family.
Smith has already published two memoirs: Just Kids, released in 2010, which chronicles her youth in New York and her relationship with Mapplethorpe, and M Train, published in 2015, reflecting on her travels and life in Rockaway Beach. Even with these pieces, Smith tells us that her life story hasn’t been completely told in written form yet.
“It took a decade to write this book, grappling with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime. I’m hoping that people will find something they need,” Smith remarked regarding her new memoir.
In conjunction with the book release, Smith will embark on a 50th anniversary tour celebrating her landmark debut album Horses. The tour will see her perform that album in full each evening, a fitting tribute to her monumental musical legacy. Smith will be joined on stage – for the first time in years – by her longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty.
Needless to say, fans are counting down the days till the arrival of the memoir—and the tour. Bread of Angels will provide a moving window into the world of an artist who has long been at the forefront of innovation in music and poetry.