for woolgatherers only

Patti Smith.

Singer-songwriter + poet + visual artist.

a remarkable influence on NYC punk rock movement with her "Horses".


Apart from her musical career -her : being called as the "Godmother of Punk" - ,
I would like to write about her success in literature.

Her National Book Award Winner(2010) book "Just Kids" , which was published as a memoir; was a triumph. It was mostly focused on her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. " a quirky tour of New York's underground music and art scenes of the late 60's and 70's/ a love letter to M." as Asbury Park described it . The greatest influence of this memoir on me was getting to know "The Beat Generation" better, and from a whole different point of view/ from an insider's view :)


As a reader's advice I must add:

Patti's 1992 " Woolgathering" is for "woolgatherers " only !

That means you should have this utopic / unrealistic imaginative power + ability to dream ( even to dream of impossible things) . Only then will you be able to internalize the book's main content. The story ( can also be seen as a memoir) leads us to the middle of nowhere , in which Patti -as a little girl - waits for us. She tries to give hints to make us understand how it feels to be in her shoes even just for ca. 100 pages.

Having a look at the etymological definiton of "wool+ gathering" :

1. indulgence in idle fancies and in daydreaming
2. gathering of the tufts of wool shed by sheep and caught on bushes.

The writer makes reference to the both meanings.

When she was a kid, she knew some people , who did Woolgathering for a living. And somehow she has always admired them, as if this was the greatest profession in the world.

She uses the other meaning "the absentmindedness" to describe her "moments". As she gets older she always makes herself remember of those childhood days ; so that she sticks to the past whenever she feels discomfort in present. It is like a little trick of hers for survival. Don't we all need those tricks? The ones, that snatch us away from our present moment and make us little kids again. No worries,No responsibilities, no connection to elderliness. In that very moment we forget about being responsible and grumpy; and we quit being overwhelmed by the tension,which surrounds us all over. All we need is to be a child again and dream dream dream...


But still. I guess such a point of view is for "real woolgatherers" only?!