Poet-performer Patti Smith has written her first book of prose, Just Kids, focusing on the period when she was a struggling artist living with fellow boho Robert Mapplethorpe. It's a beautifully written memoir, with tales of the pair's scrappy attempts to cobble a life together in New York in the late '60s. Picturing the punk priestess working as a waitress — she lasted one day — is one of many fun images you'll get, plus anecdotes recalling how she and Mapplethorpe hung out with “a crew of misfits” and their “losers' salon” give new insight into how both creative souls found their calling. Also: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; Sat., Jan. 30, 5 p.m. (323) 660-1175.

Fri., Jan. 29, 7 p.m., 2010

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