On This Day, Nov. 17, 2010: Patti Smith wins National Book Award for ‘Just Kids’

On This Day, Nov. 17, 2010…

Rocker Patti Smith was awarded the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids.

The book documented Smith’s relationship with late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the late ’60s and early ’70s New York art scene. The book was a New York Times bestseller and won several other awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Patti released her second memoir, Bread of Angels, on Nov. 4. Described as “the most intimate” of Smith’s memoirs, the book follows the musician through her childhood in Philadelphia and South Jersey, her teenage years “when the first glimmers of art and romance take hold,” her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith and their family life, and more.

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