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Summer Reading

A guide for incoming students reading the book Just Kids

Imagine a building in a gritty NYC neighborhood, where people like Mark Twain, Jack Kerouac, Arthur Miller, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan have all lived.  You befriend a fellow struggling artist and move into this iconic Hotel Chelsea in 1969, helping to create the New York punk movement.  This is the story Patti Smith tells in Just Kids, about her days living with Robert Mapplethorpe, leading up to her 1975 debut album.

 


Use this research guide to find out more about Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and how to use Lesley Library tools!