"Anything is possible: after all, it's the Year of the Monkey."
These words propel acclaimed punk rock musician, author, and artist Patti Smith forward in the new book she announced Thursday, which is entitled Year of the Monkey and set to publish this September.
Smith says she began writing after a series of 2016 New Year's shows at The Fillmore, San Francisco's storied music venue. In the succeeding year, the singer wandered, writing "in cafes, trains and strange motels by the sea" as she sought meaning at the beginning of the next decade of her life.
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A synopsis from the press release reads:
"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."
Year of the Monkey follows 2015's M Train and 2010's National Book Award-winning Just Kids.
New Yorkers recently voted to read Smith's debut memoir, Just Kids, as part of "One Book, One New York," a program encouraging communal reading and celebrating local storytelling. Her book was selected to highlight a work exploring "a strong female character leading a complicated life." Smith won over A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza, Nilda by Nicholasa Mohr, Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson and Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee.
Pre-order Year of the Monkey here.
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