{"product_id":"9781526614766-retail-year-of-the-monkey","title":"Year of the Monkey","description":"A  NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER |  From the National Book Award-winning author of  Just Kids 'Magical'  GUARDIAN 'A gripping tale of the search for meaning in times of turbulence - expressed with Smith's signature poetic flair'  VOGUE 'Extraordinary ... A tense, teasing mix of reality and dream'  SUNDAY TIMES 'Her willingness to look closely at life's closing chapters makes for a magical book'  WASHINGTON POST,  'The 10 books to read in September' Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland, with no design yet heeding signs, including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger's words, \"Anything is possible: after all, it's the year of the monkey.\" For Patti Smith - inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life's gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America.  Smith melds the Western landscape with her own dreamscape. Taking us from Southern 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. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment. But as Patti Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope of a better world.  Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids,  Year of the Monkey  is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times.","brand":"Book Grocer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48991496896731,"sku":"9781526614766-RETAIL","price":21.24,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/bf9c437b-4d69-4128-a7c2-ca7fc925c580.jpg?v=1784507068","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9781526614766-retail-year-of-the-monkey","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}