M Train

I Train starts in the little Greenwich Village café where Smith has black coffee every morning, ponders the state of the world and its past, and jots down notes in her notebook. We visit Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul in Mexico; Iceland's fertile moon terrain; Smith purchases a dilapidated seaside bungalow in Far Rockaway, New York, shortly before Hurricane Sandy makes landfall; the West 4th Street subway station, resonant with the sounds of the Velvet Underground following Lou Reed's passing; and the tombs of Genet, Plath, Rimbaud, and Mishima, all through prose that moves fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present.

Thoughts on the art of writing and creating are interwoven throughout. Unique recollections of Smith's life in Michigan and the unrecoverable death of her spouse, Fred Sonic Smith, are also included here.

M Train is a reflection on travel, mystery programmes, literature, and coffee, intertwining optimism and solace with sorrow via her trademark Polaroids. This book is really strong and poignant, written by one of the most amazing multiplatform artists working today.