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A Book of Days review: A glimpse into the wonderful world of Patti Smith

Enter the world of music legend Patti Smith by taking a look at her Polaroid connection

A Book of Days by Patti Smith

A Book of Days by Patti Smith is out on November 15. (Bloomsbury, £25)

A Book of Days is a must-read for those who get a buzz out of mainlining Patti Smith’s creativity.

The singer has been chronicling her journeys on a Polaroid Land 250 camera for decades. Here, she mixes those photographs with ones taken on her mobile phone and posted to Instagram. Put together during lockdown, the book is structured as a calendar – 366 images: one for every day of the (leap) year.

The result is a charming blend of the exotic and the quotidian: photographs of Uluru, Wo Hop in New York’s Chinatown and Arthur Rimbaud’s grave sit alongside snaps of her spectacles and her coffee mug. It’s an experience as random and fascinating as the woman herself. 

A Book of Days by Patti Smith is out on November 15. You can buy it from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine, which exists to give homeless, long-term unemployed and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy! If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

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