Abstract
The national book award for nonfiction was given in 2010 to Patti Smith for her book just kids. Since Patti Smith is a rock star as well as a poet and “punk icon,” her heartfelt remarks at the awards ceremony did more for the book business than any other tribute could have done. Smith told the assembled guests that as a young woman working at the Scribner Book Store, shelving books emblazoned with the National Book Award logo, she had dreamed of writing such a book herself. She concluded her acceptance speech with an impassioned defense of the printed book: “Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please never abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book” (“National Book Awards—2010”).
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