Woolgathering

Woolgathering

<p><strong>The National Book Award–winner Patti Smith presents a treasure box of a childhood memoir about “clear unspeakable joy” and “just the wish to know.”</strong></p> A great book about becoming an artist, <em>Woolgathering</em> tells of a youngster finding herself as she learns the noble vocation of woolgathering, “a worthy calling that seemed a good job for me.” She discovers―often at night, often in nature―the pleasures of rescuing “a fleeting thought.” Deeply moving, Wool- gathering calls up our own memories, as the child “glimpses and gleans, piecing together a crazy quilt of truths.” Smith introduces us to her tribe, “a race of cloud dwellers,” and to the fierce, vital pleasures of cloud watching and stargazing and wandering.<br /><br /> A radiant new autobiographical piece, “Two Worlds” (which was not in the original 1992 Hanuman edition of <em>Woolgathering</em>), and the author’s photographs and illustrations are also included. <em>Woolgathering</em> celebrates the sacred nature of creation with Smith’s beautiful style, acclaimed as “glorious” (NPR), “spellbinding” (<em>Booklist</em>), “rare and ferocious” (<em>Salon</em>), and “shockingly beautiful” (<em>New York Magazine</em>). Black-and-white illustrations