M Train

M Train
by Patti Smith

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the convergence of high and low culture in the book, using examples.

2. Patti shares her opinion on symbolism early on in the book: "Personally, I'm not much for symbolism. I never get it. Why can't things be just as they are? I never thought to psychoanalyze Seymour Glass or sought to break down 'Desolation Row'. I just wanted to get lost, become one with somewhere else, slip a wreath on a steeple top solely because I wished it." Do you think this opinion is reflected in her writing?

3. Patti describes her first encounter with the Rockaway house: "I stood in front of the fence on tiptoe and peered through the broken slat. All kinds of indistinct memories collided. Vacant lots skinned knees train yards mystical hobos forbidden yet wondrous dwellings of mythical junkyard angels." How does the house become a stand-in for what Patti is reminiscing/looking for in her life?

4. "In time we often become one with those we failed to understand." What does this mean? Give an example.

5. Discuss some of the recurring allusions in the book. What do you think they mean?

6. "Why is it that we lose the things we love, and things cavalier cling to us and will be the measure of our worth after we're gone?" Explain this passage. Share a story about a time you lost something meaningful.

7. "Writers and their process. Writers and their books. I cannot assume the reader will be familiar with them all, but in the end is the reader familiar with me? Does the reader wish to be so? I can only hope, as I offer my world on a platter filled with allusions." Do you find Patti's work compelling? Particularly for those who have also read Just Kids, have you developed a familiarity with her?

8. If the book could be summed up in one passage, I believe it would be: "We want things we cannot have. We seek to reclaim a certain moment, sound, sensation. I want to hear my mother's voice. I want to see my children as children. Hands small, feet swift. Everything changes. Boy grown, father dead, daughter taller than me, weeping from a bad dream. Please stay forever, I say to the things I know. Don't go. Don't grow." Do you agree that this encapsulates the meaning of the book? Is there another passage you think better reflects the theme or touches on something greater?