Bread of Angels: A Memoir, by Patti Smith review a wild ride with the poet of punk

"The poet who wrote punk into existence before pivoting to pop stardom then ghosting fans to raise a family has, in the 21st century, leaned into literature and music with such vitality it has become hard to say which medium suits her better. It hardly matters. At 78 years old, Smith lives and breathes both. Her latest memoir follows the tightly focused coming-of-age story Just Kids, published to great acclaim in 2010, and 2015's more ruminative M Train."

"But surprises don't feel crucial to a work that builds its world as much through narrative voice as its description of events. That voice can take some getting used to. Oddly formal, even archaic, in tone, at times unrestrained if not undisciplined, Smith's literary mind is a wild mare. It can occasionally feel repetitive or selfindulgent. But once you settle in, it casts a potent spell, and you'll learn as much about the artist from her style as from the stories themselves."

Patti Smith moves between music and literature with vitality, making medium distinctions secondary. The narrative spans a hardscrabble childhood through the near-present, including a striking revelation that returns the story to her literal conception. The voice alternates between Proustian invocation and archaic formality, introducing a recurrent metaphor of a 'rebel hump'—a holy flaw she accepts and harnesses. The prose can feel unrestrained, repetitive, or self-indulgent, yet casts a potent spell once one settles into its rhythm. The account romanticizes childhood, idolizes a damaged World War II veteran father, and follows family relocations from Philadelphia.

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