Patti Smith recalls lost love in 'Just Kids'

"Just Kids," the new memoir by Patti Smith, recalls the life she shared with Robert Mapplethorpe.

While Smith sometimes veils her meaning in poetic flourishes, a touching tale of love and devotion -- part-Sid and Nancy, part-Romeo and Juliet -- shines through the semantic haze.

She portrays herself and Mapplethorpe as star-crossed lovers united and ultimately divided. From their modest beginnings in an apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., Smith became a rock 'n' roll star, marrying poetry and music on the stage, while Mapplethorpe blossomed into an acclaimed and highly controversial photographer.

They met in the summer of 1967. Smith caught a bus to New York, where she planned to live with art school friends. But those friends had moved, leaving behind a young, curly haired Mapplethorpe.

Their paths crossed weeks later in Tompkins Square Park, and they ended up sharing a night on the streets of New York. An immediate bond was formed, and the pair took refuge in the attic of a friend's Brooklyn bungalow. They had a relationship rich with love -- and a hunger for art -- that lasted nearly a year.

Their romance burned quickly, and soon Mapplethorpe retreated into himself, dismayed by his growing sexual desire for men. By 1968, he had fled to San Francisco. When they met again in New York, he was involved in an intimate relationship with a man.

Mapplethorpe and Smith soon rekindled their relationship. They camped out at the notorious Chelsea Hotel among other artists and musicians like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They held court at Max's Kansas City, the fabled haunt of Andy Warhol, and they struggled to find their place in the artist's totem. But after leaving the Chelsea, they severed their romantic ties, though their bond of friendship remained.

Smith, who had published several books of poetry, began putting her words to music at New York venues. Arista Records offered her a record deal, and Mapplethorpe took the iconic photo for Smith's first album, "Horses."

There's a gap in the book between the release of the album in 1975 and Mapplethorpe's death from AIDS in 1989. She dances over critical details of her marriage to Fred "Sonic" Smith, her two children and her later relationship with Mapplethorpe.

"Just Kids" is a touching recollection, but far too sympathetic to Mapplethorpe. Smith is quick to forgive his sexual indiscretions, and often dismisses his emotional reclusiveness as the price for loving an artist. She seems to struggle at times with how to portray Mapplethorpe warmly as well as critically.

Perhaps the duo didn't have as much time for each other after career and families, something Smith tacitly alludes to by not revealing many details about that period. But there are enough details about their life together to satisfy the reader, despite the omission.