Year of the Monkey

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids ''Magical'' GUARDIAN ''A gripping tale of the search for meaning in times of turbulence - expressed with Smith''s signature poetic flair'' VOGUE ''Extraordinary. A tense, teasing mix of reality and dream'' Sunday Times''A melancholy mood and poetic language distinguish Smith''s third memoir'' BBC ''Her willingness to look closely at life''s closing chapters makes for a magical book'' WASHINGTON POST, ''The 10 books to read in September''Following a run of New Year''s concerts at San Francisco''s legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland, with no design yet heeding signs, including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat.In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger''s words, ",Anything is possible: after all, it''s the year of the monkey.", For Patti Smith - inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life''s gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America. Smith melds the Western landscape with her own dreamscape.Taking us from Southern California to the Arizona desert, to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis, to the hospital room of a valued mentor, and by turns to remembered and imagined places - this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens, grief and disillusionment. But as Patti Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope of a better world.Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith''s signature Polaroids, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times.