Publisher's Synopsis
Patti Smith, avant-garde composer of shattering Rock n' Roll and lyrical song, singer of Gloria, spoken word performer of Piss Factory, and HA HA Houdini, is a cultural icon and acknowledged writer in the high and low styles of the literary world. Patti Smith Among the Poets is the first in-depth critical study of Smith's work and its literary and artistic contexts. The book traces Smith's antecedents among the ''poètes maudits' and a long history of 'outsider' poets - including European modernists such as Paul Verlaine, Stephane Mallarme, and Arthur Rimbaud through to Jean Genet, the New York School poets such as Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch to The Beats, from Kerouac to Ginsberg. Examining this inheritance through the full range of Smith's writings from her song lyrics and poetry to her autobiographical writing, Patti Smith Among the Poets casts new light on the depths of her oeuvre.
