Audiobooks narrated by Patti Smith

Bread of Angels: from the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids

"Bloomsbury presents Bread of Angels written and read by Patti Smith A radiant new memoir from beloved artist and writer Patti Smith, author of the National Book Award Winner Just Kids. God whispers through a crease in the wallpaper, writes Patti Smith in this indelible account of her life as an artist. A post-Second World War childhood unfolds in a condemned housing complex described in Dickensian detail: consumptive children, vanishing neighbours, an infested rat house, and a beguiling book of Irish fairytales. We enter the child’s world of the imagination where Smith, the captain of her loyal and beloved sibling army, vanquishes bullies, communes with the king of tortoises and searches for sacred silver pennies. The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative heroes and role models as Patti starts to write poetry, then lyrics, merging both into the iconic songs and recordings such as Horses and Easter, ‘Dancing Barefoot’ and ‘Because the Night’. She leaves it all behind to marry her one true love, Fred Sonic Smith, with whom she creates a life of devotion and adventure on a canal in St. Clair Shores, Michigan with ancient willows and fulsome pear trees. She builds a room of her own, furnished with a pillow of Moroccan silk, a Persian cup, inkwell and fountain pen. The couple spend nights in their landlocked Chris-Craft studying nautical maps and charting new adventures as they start their family. As Smith suffers profound losses, grief and gratitude are braided through years of caring for her children, rebuilding her life and, finally, writing again — the one constant in a life driven by artistic freedom and the power of the imagination to transform the mundane into the beautiful, the commonplace into the magical, and pain into hope. In the final pages, we meet Patti on the road again, the vagabond who travels to commune with herself, who lives to write and writes to live. C 2025 Patti Smith P 2025 Penguin Random House LLC"

Patti Smith (Author), Patti Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Unexpected Lessons From Professor Higgins

"You will laugh and cry when you read how Patti Smith lovingly and honestly reveals transformative lessons gleaned from forty-plus years of caring for (and being tutored by) her son, Christopher. His diagnosis as a baby with Down Syndrome at first tilted her world off-axis, only to reveal itself to be the thing that actually set her worldview at the exact right angle. In an inspirational and heartwarming manner, Patti explains how her life was changed for the better in profound ways. With her son as her master teacher, Patti learned to see life through his perspective and discover the joy in situations requiring her to dig deeply into her own psyche to identify beliefs needing adjustment. She shares the way she changes with vulnerability and light-heartedness, while giving credit to her clever son who is respectfully referred to as her own Professor Higgins. This book is not just a book about how to raise a child with Down Syndrome, but an inspiring and humorous reflection of parenting and relationships in general. Awarded the Olive Woolley Burt Award for Creative Writing in the New Voices category. What readers are saying: 'This book changed the way I want to parent!” - Ryan H. “An incredible book, I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down!” -Julie L. “I loved this book so much I purchased extra for friends and family to read.” -Chante M. 'A wonderful self-help book disguised as a memoir.' - S.B."

Patti Smith (Author), Patti Smith, Tara Janae Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings

"With an incredible list of celebrated contributors including DAVID SEDARIS, NAOMI FRY, PATTI SMITH, SIAN CLIFFORD and JIA TOLENTINO, My First Popsicle revels in the delights of food in all its forms. Edited by ZOSIA MAMET - Shoshanna in Girls - this is a riotous, mouth-watering celebration of jelly, mac and cheese, donuts, the best sandwich in the entire world - and much more. Of all the essentials for survival: oxygen, water, sleep and food, only food is a vast treasure trove of memory and of sensory experience. Food is a portal to culture, to times past, to disgust, to comfort, to love: no matter one's feelings about a particular dish, they are hardly ever neutral. In My First Popsicle, Zosia Mamet has curated some of the most prominent voices in art and culture to tackle the topic of food in its elegance, its profundity and its incidental charm. With contributions from David Sedaris on the joy of a hot dog, Jia Tolentino on the chicken dish she makes to escape reality, Patti Smith on memories of her mother's Poor Man's Cake, Busy Philipps on the struggle to escape the patterns of childhood favourites and more, My First Popsicle is as much an ode to food and emotion as it is to life. After all, the two are inseparable."

Zosia Mamet (Author), Andrew Rannells, Busy Philipps, Gabourey Sidibe, Hamish Linklater, Kaley Cuoco, Katie Holmes, Matt Flanders, Patti Smith, Rosie Perez, Sian Clifford, Ted Danson, Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts, and Lyrics

"Performed by Jim Morrison, Patti Smith, Liz Phair, Oliver Ray, Tom Robbins, Frank Lisciandro, Anne Morrison Chewning, Sefton Graham, and Ian Morrison. Includes Jim Morrison’s final poetry recording, now available for the first time, at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles on his 27th birthday, December 8, 1970. The definitive anthology of Jim Morrison's writings with rare photographs and numerous handwritten excerpts of unpublished and published poetry and lyrics from his 28 privately held notebooks. Created in collaboration with Jim Morrison’s estate and inspired by a posthumously discovered list entitled “Plan for Book,” The Collected Works of Jim Morrison is an almost 600-page anthology of the writings of the late poet and iconic Doors’ front man. This landmark publication is the definitive opus of Morrison’s creative output—and the book he intended to publish. Throughout, a compelling mix of 160 visual components accompanies the text: excerpts from his 28 privately held notebooks—all written in his own hand and published here for the first time—as well as an array of personal images and commentary on the work by Morrison himself. This oversized, beautifully produced collectible volume contains a wealth of new material—poetry, writings, lyrics, and audio transcripts of Morrison reading his work. Not only the most comprehensive book of Morrison’s work ever published, it is immersive, giving readers insight to the creative process of and offering access to the musings and observations of an artist whom the poet Michael McClure called “one of the finest, clearest spirits of our times.” This remarkable collector’s item includes: Foreword by Tom Robbins; introduction and notes by editor Frank Lisciandro that provide insight to the work; prologue by Anne Morrison Chewning Published and unpublished work and a vast selection of notebook writings The transcript, the only photographs in existence, and production notes of Morrison’s last poetry recording on his twenty-seventh birthday The Paris notebook, possibly Morrison’s final journal, reproduced at full reading size Excerpts from notebooks kept during his 1970 Miami trial The shooting script and gorgeous color stills from the never-released film HWY Complete published and unpublished song lyrics accompanied by numerous drafts in Morrison’s hand Epilogue: “As I Look Back”: a compelling autobiography in poem form Family photographs as well as images of Morrison during his years as a performer Hear Jim Morrison’s final poetry recording, now available for the first time, on CD or digital audio book, at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles on his twenty-seventh birthday, December 8, 1970. The digital audio book also includes performances by Patti Smith, Oliver Ray, Liz Phair, Tom Robbins, and others reading Morrison’s work. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook."

Jim Morrison (Author), Anne Morrison Chewning, Frank Lisciandro, Ian Morrison, Jim Morrison, Liz Phair, Oliver Ray, Patti Smith, Sefton Graham, Tom Robbins (Narrator)

Audiobook

M Train

"Bloomsbury presents M Train written and read by Patti Smith. 'So honest and pure as to count as a true rapture' JOAN DIDION 'A poetic masterpiece' JOHNNY DEPP 'Our St John of the Cross, a mystic full of compassion' EDMUND WHITE 'A roadmap to my life', from the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids: an unforgettable odyssey of a legendary artist, told through the prism of cafés and haunts she has worked in around the world REVISED EDITION WITH FIVE THOUSAND WORDS OF BONUS MATERIAL M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village café where 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 and inspirations, 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 throughout 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, 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 artists at work today. C 2015 Patti Smith P 2015 Penguin Random House LLC"

Patti Smith (Author), Patti Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Year of the Monkey

"Bloomsbury presents Year of the Monkey written and read by Patti Smith. A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids Selected as Book of the Year by the Daily Telegraph, i paper, Metro and Harper's Bazaar ‘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, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times. C 2019 Penguin Random House LLC"

Patti Smith (Author), Patti Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

The One Inside

"The first work of long fiction from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright-a tour de force of memory, mystery, death, and life. This searing, extraordinarily evocative narrative opens with a man in his house at dawn, surrounded by aspens, coyotes cackling in the distance as he quietly navigates the distance between present and past. More and more, memory is overtaking him: in his mind he sees himself in a movie-set trailer, his young face staring back at him in a mirror surrounded by light bulbs. In his dreams and in visions he sees his late father-sometimes in miniature, sometimes flying planes, sometimes at war. By turns, he sees the bygone America of his childhood: the farmland and the feedlots, the railyards and the diners-and, most hauntingly, his father's young girlfriend, with whom he also became involved, setting into motion a tragedy that has stayed with him. His complex interiority is filtered through views of mountains and deserts as he drives across the country, propelled by jazz, benzedrine, rock and roll, and a restlessness born out of exile. The rhythms of theater, the language of poetry, and a flinty humor combine in this stunning meditation on the nature of experience, at once celebratory, surreal, poignant, and unforgettable. With a foreword written and read by Patti Smith"

Sam Shepard (Author), Bill Pullman, Patti Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Just Kids: Digital download

"Bloomsbury presents Just Kids written and read by Patti Smith. Winner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's definitive memoir is an evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Sharp, elegiac and finely crafted' Sunday Times ‘Terrifically evocative ... The most spellbinding and diverting portrait of funky-but-chic New York in the late '60s and '70s that any alumnus has committed to print' New York Times ‘Render, harrowing, often hilarious' Vogue In 1967, a chance meeting between two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that would carry each to international success never dreamed of. The backdrop is Brooklyn, Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, Scribner's Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol's Factory and the whole city resplendent. Among their friends, literary lights, musicians and artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy Daley, Sam Shepherd, William Burroughs, etc. It was a heightened time politically and culturally; the art and music worlds exploding and colliding. In the midst of all this two kids made a pact to always care for one another. Scrappy, romantic, committed to making art, they prodded and provided each other with faith and confidence during the hungry years—the days of cous-cous and lettuce soup. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully written, this is a profound portrait of two young artists, often hungry, sated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable portrait of New York, her rich and poor, hustlers and hellions, those who made it and those whose memory lingers near. C 2010 Patti Smith P 2011 Patti Smith"

Patti Smith (Author), Patti Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Patti Smith

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