“Our life was obscure, perhaps not so interesting to some, but for us it was a whole life.”

This is Patti Smith, a rock goddess and an icon who has written some of the most beautiful and poetic memoirs of anyone since Maya Angelou. There is no doubt that she has a lot to say, and the way she says it has been extremely popular since she wrote semi-autobiographical poems in her first collection, WOOLGATHERING. JUST KIDS, M TRAIN, YEAR OF THE MONKEY and A BOOK OF DAYS have followed. All contain additional glimpses into what has spurred Smith throughout her 50-year career as she writes songs, poems, memoirs and Instagram musings over her morning black coffee that have become a daily message for millions of her fans.

"Even if you have never heard of Patti Smith before, this will be the best 'in' to her marvelous perspective on the world and everything she has done to try to bring 'Power to the People.'"

Now comes BREAD OF ANGELS, where Smith’s family --- the one she was born into and the one she fashioned for herself with Fred “Sonic” Smith, a guitarist and member of the rock band MC5, who she married and had two children with --- comes into focus. The book touches on her own upbringing; how her parents encouraged her creativity, even though they had few resources for lessons; and the love she has for her husband and kids. She is constantly making plans for the future with all of them --- some destined for glory and others bound to die unfulfilled.

I love everything about Patti Smith. There are few women as accomplished (Bob Dylan chose her to deliver a speech for him when he couldn’t attend his own reception for the Nobel Prize for Literature). She was a friend to so many important figures in American life and pursued a course through the halls of true punkdom, even when her detractors mocked her masculine look, hairy armpits and craggy voice. She took everything there was about herself and turned it into what today would be described as “her brand” (although she probably would denounce such premeditated attempts at being likable and sellable). Now she lays out in beautiful words why she is who she is and has made the choices she has made in her life.

When she married Fred, after a long relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe --- he of the photos that gave Ronald Reagan and his evangelists a chance to rally against art at every level --- Smith stepped aside from the days of stage stardom and packed readings and settled down in Fred’s Detroit to enjoy a wonderfully unassuming life with their kids. She discusses how this came to be and the personal tragedies she had to survive with such an open heart and remarkable candor that most readers will feel as if they had coffee klatch with her and know her true soul.

BREAD OF ANGELS is the kind of important document we don’t usually get to enjoy from our icons, the real skinny on how they came to be the artists --- and the people --- they are. These honest facts give us insight into how she wrote “Because the Night” with Bruce Springsteen and how Robert helped her see the world differently. Her lilting prose and whimsical, heartfelt voice are a gift to those who let themselves be enveloped by her artistry.

Even if you have never heard of Patti Smith before, this will be the best “in” to her marvelous perspective on the world and everything she has done to try to bring “Power to the People.”