Bread of Angels: A Memoir by Patti Smith

Bread of Angels is Smith's most straightforwardly autobiographical book to date. It touches on material she's written about before, but her focus this time is her trajectory from a working class childhood in Pennsylvania and south Jersey into her stage and recording career — which she put on hiatus during her marriage and reignited during her widowhood. The title Bread of Angels refers to the "unpremeditated gestures of kindness" Smith has experienced along the way, which color her essentially optimistic attitude toward life. Smith is a survivor who has made it her mission to "leap back up" and keep going after setbacks. Now approaching the end of her 70s, she has remained active — performing, touring, traveling and writing.