Patti Smith Reading Order

3 books (1999–2012)

Patti Smith's three-book anthology series spans from 1999 to 2012 and collects literary and cultural essays across its complete run. These volumes should be read in publication order, beginning with Robert Bresson, followed by Pen America 13, and concluding with My Ideal Bookshelf. Smith's anthologies blend fiction and nonfiction perspectives, offering curated selections that reflect her distinctive voice and cultural interests.

Start with Robert Bresson and read in order.

#	Title
1	Robert Bresson 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Pen America 13 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	My Ideal Bookshelf 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

10 books (1994–2025)

Patti Smith's non-fiction series spans three decades of personal memoirs, reflections, and artistic documentation, beginning with Early Work, 1970-1979 and continuing through A Book of Days. The ten books, published between 1994 and 2025, should be read in publication order to follow the author's evolving perspective and retrospective narrative. The series remains ongoing, offering readers an intimate chronicle of Smith's life, creative process, and observations across multiple decades.

Start with Early Work, 1970-1979, the first of 10 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	Early Work, 1970-1979 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Patti Smith Complete Lyrics, Reflections & Notes for the Future 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Strange Messenger 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Trois 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Just Kids 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	M Train 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	David Lynch: Someone is in My House(With: David Lynch,Stijn Huijts,Kristine McKenna,Petra Giloy-Hirtz) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Year of the Monkey 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	A Book of Days 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Bread of Angels: A Memoir 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

9 books (1972–2015)

Patti Smith's poetry collections span from 1972 to 2015, comprising nine volumes that showcase her distinctive voice across four decades of literary work. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with Seventh Heaven and concluding with the comprehensive Patti Smith Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015. Notable entries include Ha! Ha! Houdini, Woolgathering, and her collaborative work with Arthur Rimbaud's A Season in Hell & The Drunken Boat. These collections blend Smith's poetic vision with her autobiographical reflections and artistic philosophy.

Start with Seventh Heaven, the first of 9 books in the Poetry Collections series.

#	Title
1	Seventh Heaven 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Witt 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Ha! Ha! Houdini 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Babel 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Woolgathering 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Coral Sea 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Auguries of Innocence 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	A Season in Hell & The Drunken Boat(With: Arthur Rimbaud) 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Patti Smith Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (2017–2024)

Why I Write is an ongoing literary nonfiction series edited by Patti Smith, featuring five books published between 2017 and 2024. Each volume presents a different writer's personal meditation on their craft and creative process, with contributors including Karl Ove Knausgård, Eileen Myles, Natasha Trethewey, and Greil Marcus. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Devotion and continuing through the most recent entry, What Nails It.

Start with Devotion, the first of 5 books in the Why I Write series.

#	Title
1	Devotion 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Inadvertent(By: Karl Ove Knausgård) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	For Now(By: Eileen Myles) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The House of Being(By: Natasha Trethewey) 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	What Nails It(By: Greil Marcus) 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible