Smith, Patti

M Train

New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. First Printing. Signed by Patti Smith. “M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village café were Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. Through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present, and across a landscape of creative aspirations, we travel to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico; to a meeting of an Arctic explorer’s society in Berlin; to a ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York’s Far Rockaway that Smith acquires just before Hurricane Sandy hits; and to the graves of Genet, Plath, Rimbaud and Mishima. Woven through are reflections on the writer’s craft and on artistic creation. Here, too are singular memories of Smith’s life in Michigan and the irremediable loss of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith. Braiding despair with hope and consolation, illustrated with her signature polaroids, ‘M Train’ is a meditation on travel, detective shows, literature, and coffee. It is a powerful, deeply moving book by one of the most remarkable multiplatform artists at work today” (front flap). “M Train” is, as Patti asserts, “a roadmap to her life” — and that road map is of equal intrigue, use, and relevance to Smith devotees and would-be pledges, alike. Around these parts — the “legendary epicenter of bibliophilia, Ann Arbor, Michigan” to cop a phrase from our distinguished founder, Arthur S. Nusbaum — Patti is and forever will remain a household name. Her talents—as expressed in her iconic music, literature, and effortlessly original, memoiristic photographs—are immediately recognizable, and her legacy endures. [ISBN: 978-0-345-81545-3]. Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket: First Edition, as indicated on copyright page; First Printing, despite not being explicated as such thereon. The collectability of this copy is also endowed by the presence of Smith’s infamously indeterminant signature — as unrepentant and individualistic as she herself is (see photos). Book in fine condition with only minute-to-enunciated shelf-wear, light rubbing to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; slightly more pronounced bump & corresponding bump-crease to front cover at bottom right-hand corner of same & lower left-hand corner of back cover. Dust-jacket in strong Very Good condition with moderate-to-pronounced shelf-wear, light chipping, bumping, etc. to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate-to-enunciated rubbing to same. Fine / Very Good. [Item #5345]

Price: $125.00