‘How should I cast my soul?’ Patti Smith’s intimate new memoir is a quest for her true self

How Should I Cast My Soul? Patti Smith’s Intimate New Memoir

Patti Smith’s memoir Bread of Angels encapsulates her life's journey, revealing profound love, devastating loss, and the power of creative renewal. This deeply personal work, perfected over a decade, was published on a significant date linking pivotal moments in her life.

A Date Marked by Love and Loss

November 4 carries special meaning for Smith. On that day in 1946, her artistic soulmate and first true love, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, was born. Forty-eight years later, on the same date, her beloved husband and fellow musician Fred “Sonic” Smith passed away from a heart attack.

The Passage of Time in Smith’s Work

“The hourglass overturns. Each grain a word that erupts into a thousand more, the first and last moments of every living thing.”

This reflection opens Bread of Angels, underscoring the memoir’s themes of time’s fluidity and life’s impermanence. Released nearly fifty years after her debut album Horses, the memoir ties together decades of personal and artistic evolution.

Smith’s Previous Memoirs

Just Kids – Celebrated as a New York Times readers' favorite book of the 21st century, it chronicles her unique relationship with Mapplethorpe and their early artistic lives in 1970s New York.
M Train and Year of the Monkey – Explore her spiritual outlook and creative process, as she reflects on time and travel.
Devotion – Focuses on writing as an act of commitment that protects her voice amid external influences.

Conclusion

Patti Smith’s memoirs create a vivid portrait of an artist’s quest for identity and resilience amid love, loss, and creative persistence.

The Conversation — 2025-11-03