From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids
Selected as Book of the Year by the Daily Telegraph, i paper, Metro and Harper's Bazaar
'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
'A melancholy mood and poetic language distinguish Smith's third memoir' BBC
'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.



![Niland, Conor SPORT Conor Niland: The Racket [2024] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/niland-conor-conor-niland-the-racket-2024-paperback-58820653515091_{width}x.jpg?v=1760353359)
![Daly, Hannah IRISH BIOGRAPHY Hannah Daly: Knowing No Boundaries [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/daly-hannah-hannah-daly-knowing-no-boundaries-2022-paperback-1171049945_{width}x.jpg?v=1748883685)
![O'sullivan, Katriona IRISH BIOGRAPHY Katriona O'Sullivan: Poor: Grit Courage And The Life-c [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/o-sullivan-katriona-katriona-o-sullivan-poor-grit-courage-and-the-life-c-2023-paperback-57396766343507_{width}x.jpg?v=1727097442)
![Westover, Tara BIOGRAPHY Tara Westover: Educated: The international bestselling memoir [2018] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/westover-tara-tara-westover-educated-the-international-bestselling-memoir-2018-paperback-57939868025171_{width}x.jpg?v=1726362680)
![Oconnor, Sinead MUSIC Sinead Oconnor: REMEMBERINGS [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/oconnor-sinead-sinead-oconnor-rememberings-2022-paperback-58868915306835_{width}x.jpg?v=1726382119)