Babel

Smith's poetry has its moments, but I prefer when she mixes it with a great band and shows herself to be one of the greatest rock 'n' roll singers of all time on classic albums such as Easter and Radio Ethiopia. ( )

Written by Patti at her prime and perhaps predating much of her own music, this book came across to me as heavily influenced by Arthur Rimbaud's work. Rimbaud embraced a "disorientation of the senses" and his classic work as a teen became a favorite of the surrealists, and an influence on later generations such as Patti. Rimbaud was a bright flame who burned the candle at both ends, and who had a young arc in creativity that led down a self-destructive path. Wikipedia's page on Rimbaud cites him as a scandalous "enfant terrible" and mentions his "method for attaining poetical transcendence or visionary power through a "long, intimidating, immense and rational derangement of all the senses" -- a description that one could easily see applied to Patti's early career when she was known for her drunken displays on stage.

Anyway, if you enjoy Patti's music you'd probably find this of interest. I'm generally not that interested in poetry but found this worth reading and worth hanging onto for many years. ( )