A Book of Days
Patti Smith: an eclectic, befuddling artist with particular aesthetic tastes.
In this thick, physically heavy book we get more or less one Polaroid or iPhone photo for every day of the year, along with a brief caption. Recurring themes include cups of coffee, books, street scenes, portraits of friends and family, weathered hands, jewelry, religious icons, the beds and tombstones and desks of poets and painters, and miscellaneous paraphernalia Smith has accrued in her wanderings over the years.
In the wandering category, we see a snowman in Washington Square (February 17), seagulls at Rockaway Beach (February 23), a crucifix in Buenos Aires (April 15), the statue of a fisherman in Oslo (August 14). And for November 6, the date of our anniversary, we see a plaza in Coyoacán—a plaza Katie and I just so happened to wander through during our tenth anniversary trip to Mexico City last April.
Theoretically A Book of Days is meant to be read over the course of a year. But our local library frowns upon keeping books that long, so I made my way through it in just a few enjoyable sittings.
