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The coral sea

The coral sea

PoetryArt & PhotographyBiography & Memoir
Pages
93
Published
1996
Language
English

Synopsis

Patti Smith's prose-poem elegy for her closest friend and collaborator, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, imagined as a dying man's final ocean voyage toward the Southern Cross. Moving between memory and myth, Smith traces Mapplethorpe from young artist to his years surviving AIDS and his death, recasting her grief into a portrait of the man beneath the persona.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

MelancholicReflectiveThought-ProvokingEmotional
Mentor Figure

Genres

Art & Photography Biography & Memoir Philosophy & Religion Poetry Humor Photography Religion

About the author

P
Patti Smith

Patti Smith is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses. Called the "punk poet laureate", Smith fused rock and poetry in her work. On November 17, 2010, Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids.