Patti Smith performer, poet, songwriter, playwright, painter - changed the face of rock'n'roll with her beat-derived poetry. Now for the first time, her early lyrics, poems and prose have been collected together in one volume.Early Work 1970 - 1979 contains poems and prose from her books Seventh Heaven, Ha! Ha! Houdini! and Witt, plus selections from her landmark work Babel. The book also includes unpublished works, notebook entries, and the author s personal papers, which provide an insight into her creative mind. The book also features an introduction, in which Patti places her work in context, discussing the more liberal and politicised climate of the seventies. Accompanying the text are photographs, some never before published, shot by Robert Mapplethorpe and Judy Linn among others.By presenting a range of Patti Smith's writing from the meditative to the explosive, Early Work 1970 - 1979 goes some way to capturing the essence of a multifaceted and dynamic artist. Early Work 1970 - 1979 will remind people of why Patti Smith became a legend.