Patti Smith : An Unauthorized Biography

Rating:
Summary: Lackluster "Smith"
Review: Despite some pretty good biographies of Bebe Buell, Blondie and Keith Richards, Victor Bockris strikes out in a big way with "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography." Focusing on the snippy, selfish and just plain weird, Bockris creates an unflattering portrait of Smith that doesn't offer any insights.

Patti Smith wasn't pretty or graceful, but her strong artistic leanings took her to New York in the cultural swirls of the 1970s. At first she was just a poet, although an outstandingly vivid one, and then she became a punk rocker with a unique look and style all her own. Upon her marriage to MC5 rocker Fresh Smith, Patti Smith vanished from the limelight for many years to be a quiet, obedient housewife... only to reappear when her husband died.

At first, Bockris starts off strong with descriptions of Smith's childhood rebellions and love of rock'n'roll (including as her blunt description of her first glimpse of the Rolling Stones). Then she first arrives in New York and becomes enmeshed in the gritty avant-garde gaggle of artists and musicians -- so far so good. But the story starts to unravel when music comes back into the picture.

When Smith's music comes onto the scene, Bockris distances himself. He sticks to her eccentricities and naster moments, with little emphasis on her music (such as her rivalry with Debbie Harry, which is never explained in full). The descriptions of Patti's husband, lovers and friends aren't very well-rounded -- we basically get a 2-D picture and that's it.

"Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is mainly patched together from interviews and articles. That's always a problem; it puts a distance between the biographer and subject. And some of Bockris' comments about Smith's marriage seem suspect, almost like he was determined to see it as a failure. He seems disappointed that she opted to be a housewife for awhile rather than a punk goddess.

Unbalanced and patched together from previous material, "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is a passable starting point, but by no means a good source for info on Smith's life and art.

Rating:
Summary: Lackluster "Smith"
Review: Despite some pretty good biographies of Bebe Buell, Blondie and Keith Richards, Victor Bockris strikes out in a big way with "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography." Focusing on the snippy, selfish and just plain weird, Bockris creates an unflattering portrait of Smith that doesn't offer any insights.

Patti Smith wasn't pretty or graceful, but her strong artistic leanings took her to New York in the cultural swirls of the 1970s. At first she was just a poet, although an outstandingly vivid one, and then she became a punk rocker with a unique look and style all her own. Upon her marriage to MC5 rocker Fresh Smith, Patti Smith vanished from the limelight for many years to be a quiet, obedient housewife... only to reappear when her husband died.

At first, Bockris starts off strong with descriptions of Smith's childhood rebellions and love of rock'n'roll (including as her blunt description of her first glimpse of the Rolling Stones). Then she first arrives in New York and becomes enmeshed in the gritty avant-garde gaggle of artists and musicians -- so far so good. But the story starts to unravel when music comes back into the picture.

When Smith's music comes onto the scene, Bockris distances himself. He sticks to her eccentricities and naster moments, with little emphasis on her music (such as her rivalry with Debbie Harry, which is never explained in full). The descriptions of Patti's husband, lovers and friends aren't very well-rounded -- we basically get a 2-D picture and that's it.

"Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is mainly patched together from interviews and articles. That's always a problem; it puts a distance between the biographer and subject. And some of Bockris' comments about Smith's marriage seem suspect, almost like he was determined to see it as a failure. He seems disappointed that she opted to be a housewife for awhile rather than a punk goddess.

Unbalanced and patched together from previous material, "Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography" is a passable starting point, but by no means a good source for info on Smith's life and art.

Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: For two people so associated w/punk rock music, it seems odd that Victor Bockris and Roberta Bayley could have written such a tepid account of Patti Smith. This book relies heavily on published interviews and sensationalistic accounts of her life that Patti has given to journalists over the years. Bockris and Bayley paint her as controlling in some instances and a pushover in others, often in their attempts to discover her motivations. Not only that, but could they have chosen a more unattractive photo of Patti to adorn the book jacket? She looks like a Hannibal Lector/Lost Boys hybrid or something. If Roberta Bayley took the photo, it certainly doesn't display her finest work and if she didn't...what an error of judgment! Patti had nothing to do w/this book and if you want the real deal, buy her collections of poetry, Early Work and The Coral Sea, and her complete lyric collection, which has tons of photos and some of Patti's journal notes from over the years.

Rating:
Summary: Totally engrossing
Review: I have been an enormous fan of Patti Smith's since 1975. This book shows that my hero isn't perfect, and that makes me love her even more. She had a dream and was willing to do what was needed to make it happen. She grew, she got married and was happy, and has re-emerged with more to say, and new ways to say it. Patti Smith is beyond a goddess, she is beyond rock star, she is above "punk high priestess". She is an artist, a poet and a messenger in the purest sense. Read this book if you want an unbiased view. Read "Complete" if you want Patti's thoughts. Read her books if you want to know her inside and out, but even then, how can you catch the wind?

Rating:
Summary: Totally engrossing
Review: I have been an enormous fan of Patti Smith's since 1975. This book shows that my hero isn't perfect, and that makes me love her even more. She had a dream and was willing to do what was needed to make it happen. She grew, she got married and was happy, and has re-emerged with more to say, and new ways to say it. Patti Smith is beyond a goddess, she is beyond rock star, she is above "punk high priestess". She is an artist, a poet and a messenger in the purest sense. Read this book if you want an unbiased view. Read "Complete" if you want Patti's thoughts. Read her books if you want to know her inside and out, but even then, how can you catch the wind?

Rating:
Summary: Touched By Fire
Review: I just finished this book & I have mixed feelings about it.

The book is based on interviews that Smith and others have given over the years--it is not so much a biography as a pastiche. While I had the feeling that Bockris tried to maintain a fair account of Smith's life, I often felt that there was too much conjecture by the authors & by people who claim to have known Smith.

It is an interesting note that he wrote Blondie's biography as well. Pattie Smith & Blondie are not on good terms and never have been. According to Bockris, this is Pattie's fault & Blondie has done her best to ignore Pattie's hostility--true? Who knows?

I also wonder about Bockris/Bayley's account of Pattie's marriage to Fred. I had always heard that it was a happy one, based on mutual love & respect for each other & their art--this book claims that Fred was a drunk and suggests that he may have even been phyiscally abusive?

The authors also spend a lot of time on Pattie's physical appearance, partiucularly during the time of her comeback--by suggesting that she looked old & haggard, the authors claim that this is evidence of her unhappy life with Fred & her kids. Seems a bit fishy to me, although the idea came from Wayne Kramer and others.

I do not regret reading this book as there are many interviews quoted directly--those interviews provide some insight into Smith's music & philosophy, even if she does sound like she is on acid at times.

Also, I thought the descriptions of her concerts and onstage antics were accurate--I actually saw Pattie perform in Atlanta a couple of years ago (just before Bob Dylan, ironically enough, with whom Smith has had a long & productive friendship)& her concert was the one of the closest things to a religous experience I have ever had. She left the crowd in awe--some teenage girls in front of me didn't know who she was & we ended up having a nice conversation about her. Pattie is still reaching people after all these years--which is why people want to read about her.

Rating:
Summary: Touched By Fire
Review: I just finished this book & I have mixed feelings about it.

The book is based on interviews that Smith and others have given over the years--it is not so much a biography as a pastiche. While I had the feeling that Bockris tried to maintain a fair account of Smith's life, I often felt that there was too much conjecture by the authors & by people who claim to have known Smith.

It is an interesting note that he wrote Blondie's biography as well. Pattie Smith & Blondie are not on good terms and never have been. According to Bockris, this is Pattie's fault & Blondie has done her best to ignore Pattie's hostility--true? Who knows?

I also wonder about Bockris/Bayley's account of Pattie's marriage to Fred. I had always heard that it was a happy one, based on mutual love & respect for each other & their art--this book claims that Fred was a drunk and suggests that he may have even been phyiscally abusive?

The authors also spend a lot of time on Pattie's physical appearance, partiucularly during the time of her comeback--by suggesting that she looked old & haggard, the authors claim that this is evidence of her unhappy life with Fred & her kids. Seems a bit fishy to me, although the idea came from Wayne Kramer and others.

I do not regret reading this book as there are many interviews quoted directly--those interviews provide some insight into Smith's music & philosophy, even if she does sound like she is on acid at times.

Also, I thought the descriptions of her concerts and onstage antics were accurate--I actually saw Pattie perform in Atlanta a couple of years ago (just before Bob Dylan, ironically enough, with whom Smith has had a long & productive friendship)& her concert was the one of the closest things to a religous experience I have ever had. She left the crowd in awe--some teenage girls in front of me didn't know who she was & we ended up having a nice conversation about her. Pattie is still reaching people after all these years--which is why people want to read about her.

Rating:
Summary: It's not bad nor great.
Review: I see that most of these people hate this book. I admit it has its faults. Lots of 'em. The cover is supremely nasty. Not really because Patti has her hands stuck down her pants. The authors manage to mention themselves enough to slightly annoy the reader, and Victor even put a picture of himself in it (of course Patti's in the picture, too, but you get the feeling there were LOTS more photos to choose from, and he just put that one in there to feel all special). More than a few times, we get bombarded with images of Patti enjoying carnal pleasures -by herself. I'm not easily offended, but it was just unnecessary. All of that other stuff already mentioned, it's informative, and it's really the only Patti Smith bio out there. All in all, an okay read. Plus, you can't beat the price- I just happened to see it in a store and was able to buy it with scrounged-up pocket money.

Rating:
Summary: Patti Smith Had Nothing To Do With This Book
Review: The fact that Patti Smith's name follows Victor Bockris' and Roberta Baily's on the book catalog listing is misleading and irresponsible. Patti Smith had nothing to do with this book and neither did anybody who really knew or knows her. As said in the above reviews, it is a poor pastiche of periodical articles and conconcted stories by embittered has-beens and hangers on who themselves never created anything of worth. It is obvious that it's 'authors' did little if any real research on Patti Smith the individual or the artist and, sadly, they do not seriously focus on her work. It's as if they cut and pasted huge portions of the book from the internet while sitting at home on laptops doing google searches. In conclusion, this book is a waste of paper and money.

Rating:
Summary: Not a complete waste of time, but not really a bio.
Review: What a piece of garbage! Bockris and Bayley do here for Patti what Kitty Kelley did for Sinatra. Just about every occurence is Smith's life and work is judged by these two as careerist and manipulative, so unfortunately, this book is in no way the fair or balanced account that Smith fans had hoped for.

These two are even shameless enough to admit that the bulk of information provided by the book comes from interviews that Patti did with other people throughout her career. My guess is that one would come away much more informed by searching out the originals and seeing what Patti had to say in the proper context.