"M Train" by Patti Smith

ISBN: 9781408867693

"M Train" is perhaps one of the most romantic books of being a writer, and those who likes to read.  What can be better than reading and writing in a small hip cafe, and watching the world go by.  And on top of that, visit every cool writer's grave site - from Europe to Japan.  Patti Smith is not a hard person to figure out.   She conveys the spirit of being a book nerd as well as a rock n' roll lunatic.   In many ways, it's a very simple image of a writer/artist. Yet it is the simple aspect of it that many are driven towards that world.   Millions feel like Patti, but she has the ability to write in a very clear manner her love for icons such as the Beats, Genet, Rimbaud - and to my utter delight - Osamu Dazai.    And speaking of Japan, I'm happy that she gives a call-out to my favorite cafe - "The Lion" in Shibuya, Tokyo.

For those who fell in love with Patti Smith due to her previous book "Just Kids," will not find the same type of narrative.  This is very much a writer's book, about writing and thinking.  Also it's a book about nothing, which for many of us (including me) is very much an aesthetic that one follows.  In other words, this is a book that is hard to dislike, and one can only dislike this book, if you don't have the romantic impulse of reading and worshiping your favorite artists.  For me, I don't see art or artists in that light.  They are not gods, but humans, and that is what strikes my fancy regarding the artist and their role in our world.

If I were you (readers), I would treat "M Train" as a classic.  I would recommend this book to romantic girls and boys, as well as a bit of social history through the eyes of Patti Smith.  May you sit in that cafe, for a long time.