《只是孩子Just Kids》、《時光列車M Train》作者
搖滾樂界的桂冠詩人,龐克教母佩蒂‧史密斯Patti Smith
在真實裡夢遊,在夢土裡撿拾生命──轉折與蛻變的猴年紀
此時剛跨年步入2016年,佩蒂‧史密斯在舊金山傳奇的Fillmore表演廳舉辦的演唱會才結束落幕,而她,發現自己漫步在Santa Cruz的海岸,尚不知道在其後等待著自己的一切。當二月來到,迎來陰曆的猴年,一如人們說:「什麼事都可能發生,畢竟,猴年就是這樣」;這一年,恰好如一隻狡黠愛作弄人的猴,把意外丟向毫無防備的她──驟然離世的導師益友、而深交多年的老友,逐步走向衰萎,又或國家社會的跌宕暈眩,以及自己,將從69歲步向70的生命下一章……隨之而來的種種哀悼、悲傷、悵然或震驚──對向來對世事充滿好奇心,總在探索、思索與書寫的佩蒂‧史密斯而言,將這些經歷化作文字,捕捉於拍立得影像──是抵禦這所有的唯一途徑。
讀者受邀加入她的思想世界──現實與夢境在她的筆下融合為一,從加州直至亞利桑那的沙漠、造訪鄉間農場為朋友抄寫打字,一同編修最後的手稿、也走至病榻前面對珍視之人離世的最後時刻。當現實如浪般襲來,她穿梭於回憶與幻想的世界,沉浸在音樂、詩歌,沉思時間、失去與生命,體悟記憶,及人那不隨時光磨損的精神,都是如此珍貴重要。這充滿轉折與意外的一年,當悲傷與醒悟籠罩,佩蒂‧史密斯卻將一切化成一份詩意溫柔的慰藉,邁入生命的下一個十年。讓人沉醉、優雅而富含幽默的文字,與她代表性的拍立得影像──《Year of the Monkey》是佩蒂‧史密斯生命關鍵之年的記錄與雜想,更成為與讀者分享的一份贈禮:她的智慧、機智與充滿洞察的眼,以及最重要的,對一個更美好世界,那不放棄的韌性與期盼。(文/博客來編譯)
New York Times Best Seller
From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train, a profound, beautifully realized memoir in which dreams and reality are vividly woven into a tapestry of one transformative year.Following a run of New Year’s concerts at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding signs--including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger’s words, "Anything is possible: after all, it’s the Year of the Monkey." For Smith--inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing--the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life’s gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America. Smith melds the western landscape with her own dreamscape. Taking us from California to the Arizona desert; to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis; to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and by turns to remembered and imagined places, this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment set in. But as Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope for a better world. Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith’s signature Polaroids, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times.