YEAR OF THE MONKEY (PB)

In a stranger's words, ‘Anything is possible: after all, it's the year of the monkey.’ For Patti Smith, it signals a year of solitary wandering. With no design yet heeding signs, she melds the Western landscape with her own dreamscape, taking us from Southern California to the Arizona desert; from a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis, to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and to remembered and imagined places. Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids, this is a touchstone for turbulent times.