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Héloïse Esquié
Héloïse Esquié is the author of Just Kids, a book that explores themes of youth and coming-of-age. She writes with a clear voice, making her stories accessible and relatable.
Just Kids
Synopsis
In the summer of 1967, two twenty-year-olds meet by chance in New York City: Patti Smith, a working-class girl from New Jersey with poetry in her and nowhere to live, and Robert Mapplethorpe, a Brooklyn boy still finding the shape of his art. They become lovers, then lifelong friends and collaborators, holding each other up through years of poverty, hunger, and relentless devotion to making something true.
Just Kids follows the pair from Coney Island to the legendary Hotel Chelsea, into the orbit of Andy Warhol's Factory, Max's Kansas City, and a downtown scene crowded with poets, musicians, and outsiders on the cusp of fame. With tenderness and clear-eyed grace, Smith recounts her own emergence as a performer and Robert's rise as a photographer, and the promise she made to tell their story the day before he died.
Winner of the National Book Award, Patti Smith's memoir is a luminous portrait of two artists becoming themselves — an elegy for a lost New York and a testament to a friendship that shaped them both.
Genres
Goodreads Choice Award (2010)Lambda Literary Award (2010)NAIBA Book of the Year (2010)National Book Award (2010)National Book Critics Circle Award (2010)Stonewall Book Award (2011)
Frequently asked questions
Does Just Kids have any notable awards?
Just Kids won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010, recognizing its significant contribution to American literature.
Is Just Kids connected to other works by Patti Smith?
Just Kids is the first in a series of memoirs by Patti Smith, followed by M Train and Year of the Monkey, which continue to explore her life and artistic journey.
Is Just Kids a true story?
Just Kids is a memoir, recounting Patti Smith's personal experiences and her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe during their formative years in New York City.