Why Patti Smith Matters is the first book about the iconic artist written by a woman and the first  with comprehensive, original research and primary sources, one of whom is Bruce Springsteen. The veteran music journalist Caryn Rose contextualizes Smith’s creative work, her influence, and her wide-ranging and still- evolving impact on rock and roll, visual art, and the written word. 

Following the success of memoirs and collections like Just Kids and M Train, Patti Smith has legions of fans both new and old who will love Caryn Rose’s music- focused reporting of Smith’s creative work, her influence, and her wide-ranging and still-evolving impact on rock and roll, visual art, and the written word. Smith, the daughter of a factory worker, has attributed her array of endeavors as “work” and characterizes her performances as “jobs.” – Rose shows the significance of her work ethic on popular culture. Rose notes, “I was eager to take on the formidable task of chronicling Patti Smith’s career because aside from Smith’s own work, the existing scholarship didn’t possess the kind of informed, careful perspective of her life and art that it deserves.”

Caryn Rose is a longtime music journalist whose work has appeared in Pitchfork, MTV News, Salon, Billboard, the Village Voice, Vulture, and the Guardian. Her essay on Maybelle Carter was included in Woman Walk the Line. She is also the author of Gas, Food, Wifi: On The Road in the American Southwest, Raise Your Hand: Adventures of an American Springsteen Fan in Europe and more! 

Rose digs deep into Smith’s body of work, from her first album, Horses, to her acclaimed memoirs operating at a surprising remove from her music. The portrait of a ceaseless inventor, Why Patti Smith Matters rescues the punk poet muse from “strong woman” clichés.

Rose will appear in Cleveland at 7pm at Visible Voice Books on July 23rd to promote Why Patti Smith Matters. More info can be found here.