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Patti Smith announces a new book inspired by her Instagram account

A Book Of Days will be released 15 November via Penguin Random House


We might have passed safely through the era of celebrities turning their tweets into books, but Patti Smith is here to ensure that we aren’t starved of social media literature altogether. Her new book, A Book Of Days, will comprise of 365 photographs, capturing a year in her life as inspired by her Instagram presence.

“In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message ‘Hello Everybody!’,” the book’s official description reads.

“Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat, Cairo. Followers felt an immediate affinity with these miniature windows into Smith’s world, photographs of her daily coffee, the books she’s reading, the graves of beloved heroes—William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Simone Weil, Albert Camus.

“Over time, a coherent story of a life devoted to art took shape, and more than a million followers responded to Smith’s unique aesthetic in images that chart her passions, devotions, obsessions, and whims.

“Original to this book are vintage photographs: anniversary pearls, a mother’s keychain, and a husband’s Mosrite guitar. Here, too, are photos from Smith’s archives of life on and off the road, train stations, obscure cafés, a notebook always nearby. In wide-ranging yet intimate daily notations, Smith shares dispatches from her travels around the world.”

Smith will also be embarking on a 12-date book tour in support of the release.