Nothing is more soothing, all-embracing or threatening than water when you’re immersed in it, and immersion is very much the theme of a book coming out in April that I consider to be very important. As a follow-up to my reconsideration of the play The Vagina Monologues and the sense of cultural fatigue with the gender divide that we may all be feeling, acknowledged or not, it occurred to me that one of the things I’m most satisfied...

Deeply personal and insightfully written, Patti Smith’s New York story delivers the emotional narrative that Bob Dylan’s Chronicles left readers wanting. Tracing the relationship between Smith and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Just Kids explores the thriving artistic community of New York in the 60’s and 70’s and paints a portrait...