Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

You're not going to learn much new about SK in this book. Sure, we have a somewhat self-deprecating account of Brownstein's struggles with depression and anxiety, but those feel almost rote. Even then, it feels more like biography than memoir.

Things get better once SK comes into the picture, as that's really what this book is-not the memoir of Carrie Brownstein, but the memoir of Sleater-Kinney. The book is riddled with big words that lack any real punch because they're the norm, and this is most evident as Brownstein talks about her childhood. Throughout this memoir, its evident that Brownstein has a thesaurus-like knowledge of the English language without any real mastery of it. There's little depth to the content, and it is horrifically overwritten. This is the least compelling section of the memoir, poorly paced and thin. The first third is spent recounting Brownstein's early years. It takes a while for this work to hit its stride. It's a passable music memoir, certainly of interest to all the Sleater-Kinney fans out there, but even they will be disappointed (as I was) by a book that feels too thin. This isn't a book for readers looking for voyeuristic thrills from their memoirs.

Though Brownstein struggled against the music industry's sexist double standards, by 2006 she was the only woman to earn a spot on Rolling Stone readers' list of the '25 Most Underrated Guitarists of All-Time.' This book intimately captures what it feels like to be a young woman in a rock-and-roll band, from her days at the dawn of the underground feminist punk-rock movement that would define music and pop culture in the 1990s through today. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is the deeply personal and revealing narrative of Brownstein's life in music, from ardent fan to pioneering female guitarist to comedic performer and luminary in the independent rock world. The band was a key part of the early riot- grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest, known for their prodigious guitar shredding and their leftist lyrics against war, traditionalism, and gender roles. From a leader of feminist punk music at the dawn of the riot-grrrl era, a candid and deeply personal look at life in rock and roll.īefore Carrie Brownstein codeveloped and starred in the wildly popular TV comedy Portlandia, she was already an icon to young women for her role as a musician in the feminist punk band Sleater-Kinney.

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein