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Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Carrie Brownstein

3.86 · Rating details · 23,650 ratings · 2,384 reviews

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.

Before 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. The band was a key part of the early riot- ...more

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Hardcover, 244 pages

Published October 27th 2015 by Riverhead Books

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· 23,650 ratings · 2,384 reviews

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Nov 05, 2015 Sharon rated it it was ok

This isn't a book for readers looking for voyeuristic thrills from their memoirs. 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.

It takes a while for this work to hit its stride. The first third is spent recounting Brownstein's early years. This is the least compelling section of the memoir, poorly paced and thin. There's little depth to the content, and it is horrifically o This isn't a book for readers looking for voyeuristic thrills from their memoirs. 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.

It takes a while for this work to hit its stride. The first third is spent recounting Brownstein's early years. This is the least compelling section of the memoir, poorly paced and thin. There's little depth to the content, and it is horrifically overwritten. Throughout this memoir, its evident that Brownstein has a thesaurus-like knowledge of the English language without any real mastery of it. 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.

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. Even then, it feels more like biography than memoir. Sure, we have a somewhat self-deprecating account of Brownstein's struggles with depression and anxiety, but those feel almost rote. You're not going to learn much new about SK in this book. At times, I felt like I was reading the SK wikipedia page with minor edits to show Brownstein's perspective.

There is some insight into the artistic workings of SK, but not a lot. Each album has its own chapter, where we learn about the songwriting and recording process, along with a few anecdotes about the associated tours. Sometimes individual songs are mentioned--notably missing is 'Modern Girl', a song whose lyrics gave this book their title, but somehow didn't warrant a single sentence in the meat of the book itself.

There is little detail of Brownstein's life after SK broke up and before they got back together. There's a single mention of Portlandia, and a chapter detailing her work with Portland's animal shelters. The book closes with a brief discussion about SK's most recent tour and album.

I'm a fan of Carrie Brownstein and of Sleater-Kinney, and I was disappointed. It's a quick, at times interesting read, but it doesn't feel rewarding. If you're into Brownstein's work, stick to her music and work on Portlandia. She's a much better musician and comedian than she is a memoirist ...more

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Jun 11, 2015 Diane rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, music, memoirs

What a fantastic music memoir! Carrie Brownstein writes beautifully about her development as an artist and how she became a successful musician.

Carrie grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington, and she started playing the guitar at a young age. She says she was an anxious and melodramatic child, but she loved to perform. In high school she started playing with bands, and eventually formed Sleater-Kinney, which Time magazine once described as America's best rock band. The book covers Carrie' ...more

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Feb 19, 2016 Eve rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2016, favorites, memoir-biog

“All we [Sleater-Kinney] ever wanted was just to play songs and shows that mattered to people, that mattered to us. Music that summed up the messiness of life, that mitigated that nagging fear of hopelessness, loneliness and death.” –Carrie Brownstein

I’ve been floundering in my reading pool, trying to stay afloat and not sink into a reading slump. I can usually tell I’m headed that way when it takes me days to decide what to read next. I’m an unapologetic mood reader, and a very recent bout of
“All we [Sleater-Kinney] ever wanted was just to play songs and shows that mattered to people, that mattered to us. Music that summed up the messiness of life, that mitigated that nagging fear of hopelessness, loneliness and death.” –Carrie Brownstein

I’ve been floundering in my reading pool, trying to stay afloat and not sink into a reading slump. I can usually tell I’m headed that way when it takes me days to decide what to read next. I’m an unapologetic mood reader, and a very recent bout of shingles has made me super impatient and fastidious about reading material.

I had no intention of inflicting my bad mood on this book that I’ve been looking forward to for so long. When I got an email from my library that the audiobook was finally available to download, I balked! I had two weeks to either read it or get on the long waiting list…again. The first paragraph instantly hooked me though, and I just couldn’t stop listening.

“2006–I only wanted two things on tour: to slam my hand in a door and break my fingers. Then I would go home. I had shingles on the right side of my body, brought on by stress, a perfect triangle of blisters that flickered and throbbed with a stinging electricity…”

Boy could I empathize! I haven’t been gardening, cleaning house or otherwise occupying my hands while listening. I’ve been lying in bed (on my side) staring at the wall. It’s so good that it’s like watching an enthralling, well-written movie. Carrie has such an articulate way of expressing herself both in interviews and not surprisingly in the written word. Though I’ve never listened to Sleater-Kinney, the band that put her on the map, I still found this book transportive and an iconic tribute to an important era.

Her constant struggle to find a place and meaning in life really touched me; it made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Her personal account of her family life was also touching; who’d have thought? This was already a 4-star read, but the final part of the book shot it into 5-star status, especially the chapter about her pets and their significance in her life. This audio edition had a brief interview with the author at the end, and it only endeared her to me all the more. She is a voracious reader, and there were a few authors she mentioned both in the book and interview that I seriously need to get to sooner than later. FYI, she’s mostly into fiction. That’s kind of refreshing. So if you’re planning on reading this, you won’t be disappointed! If you think it may not be for you, you’d be surprised. Give it a go; it's hard not to be charmed by Carrie. ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

Shelves: art-saves-lives, memoirs-biographies, feminism

First, I LOVE SLEATER-KINNEY.

I was so excited to read this and what an excellent read! Some might be disappointed- this is not a typical memoir. Carrie Brownstein is one cerebral lady. She tells a story that supports the idea that art saves lives. She does not dish. Not even once. Instead she explains how Sleater-Kinney saved her. She explains about tour. She shows us her regard for Corin Tucker & Janet Weiss. And she tells us how she broke up the band.

The feminist punk scene & riot gr ...more

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Oct 17, 2018 Elyse Walters rated it really liked it

Audiobook.... read by the author!

I had never heard of Carrie Brownstein until I read Vanessa’s review.
( thank you Vanessa).

Still jazzed from “Daisy Jones and The Six”, by
Taylor Jenkins Reid, I thought it might be fun to listen to Carrie read her memoir....AND IT WAS!!!
Carrie has a dynamite voice with a bubbly disposition.
We learn about her family - ( her escape from the toxicity), and her music.
It’s intimate- raw - honest.

Wonderfully genuine.

Universal themes of painful growing years break ou ...more

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Nov 02, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: axis360, memoir, non-fiction, e-book, biography, music, performance-arts

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein is a 2015 Riverhead Books publication.

I must confess I know next to nothing about this artist, the rock band ‘Sleater-Kinney’ or punk music. I never fully embraced that form of music, pretty much sticking to my classic rock, blues, and jazz formats, especially during the time this band was at its peak.

By the mid-nineties, I was working sixty to seventy hours a week, dealing with two pre-teens who had signed up for every sport and activity imag ...more

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Oct 28, 2015 Maxwell rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016, non-fiction

At once an honest depiction of otherness and an interesting examination of the 1990's music scene--especially punk rock in the PNW. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, the title coming from a Sleater-Kinney track, covers Brownstein's youth and emergence into a career in music. She's genuine, indulgent and witty. Though I know very little about the Riot grrrl scene, and I'll be honest, care very little about it, her writing was superb and infused the narrative with something quite special. I mostly kn ...more

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Jan 13, 2016 Joe Valdez rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoirs

This 2015 memoir by Carrie Brownstein, co-founder of grunge rock trio Sleater-Kinney (and known far and wide today for the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia she acts in, writes and created with Fred Armisen) is devoted purely to Brownstein's emergence from uncool teenager and suburban music geek in Redmond, Washington to recording and touring with what a critic at Time Magazine called in 2002 the best rock 'n' roll band in America. Rather than promoting Sleater-Kinney's import as artists or bl ...more

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Sep 23, 2018 Vanessa rated it it was amazing

I totally ate this book up. Thanks Carrie for your brave honesty and intelligence. Your personality shines through so strongly, not only through your music but through this well written memoir. A perfect mix of her not so glamorous rock and roll life and her personal struggles. Her love for animals and her pets really won my heart over. I’m totally a fan after this.

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Nov 12, 2015 Alex Laughlin rated it it was ok

I love Carrie but this was mad overwritten.

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Nov 03, 2015 Snotchocheez rated it really liked it

It pains me to say I'm not a Sleater-Kinney fan. (I own exactly one of their seven albums--2002's "One Beat", given to me by a fellow "college rock"-aficionado who insisted I should be a Sleater-Kinney fan--but could only find sonic love with their anthemic "Far Away"...and nothing else). Don't know why I have had this total disconnect with them. They just always...I don't know...intimidated me? I'd read about their successes as seminal (if unwitting) pioneers of the Riot Grrrl punk rock moveme It pains me to say I'm not a Sleater-Kinney fan. (I own exactly one of their seven albums--2002's "One Beat", given to me by a fellow "college rock"-aficionado who insisted I should be a Sleater-Kinney fan--but could only find sonic love with their anthemic "Far Away"...and nothing else). Don't know why I have had this total disconnect with them. They just always...I don't know...intimidated me? I'd read about their successes as seminal (if unwitting) pioneers of the Riot Grrrl punk rock movement, and admired their tenacity from afar, but they always felt like a club I wasn't invited to.

So, you ask, why did I even bother reading Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl anyway?

Okay, I admit it. I have a huge (but barely concealed) crush on Carrie Brownstein. (Actually, Corin and Janet, too. Never could 'get' their caterwauling, bass-less stylings, but their omnipresent photos in all the music rags extolling them to the heavens made me swoon. I so wanted to share my friends' love, and outwardly pretended to when accompanying them to a S-K gig in LA in 2003, but only went to secretly entertain my crush...and watch the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, their opening act.) Eight years later, way after Sleater-Kinney disbanded, I was floored to discover Carrie Brownstein the sketch comedienne, whose Portlandia made me swoon again, this time with giddy laughter. (The most laughter elicited from sourpuss moi since SNL's mid-90s heyday.) So, yeah, it was pretty much imperative I read her memoir, despite my mixed feelings about Sleater-Kinney musically.

Alas, there's nary a mention of the Portlandia era of Ms. Brownstein's life (perhaps her next memoir? Pretty please?!) What you do get, however, is an absorbing, erudite glimpse of a girl's hungered 2 decade-long voyage toward self-fulfillment and incidental musical prominence. Even the most jaded readers of a certain generation (most likely GenX-Yers) will relish and relate to her account of finding herself through music, and her subsequent joys of stardom (and woes of pressure to succeed). The book's unintended benefit for me (thanks to its timing with Sleater-Kinney's return from their looong hiatus): I feel like I'm finally invited to the club, and can better appreciate what one influential critic once deemed "The Best Rock Band in America".

(And the pictures are super-yummy, too!) ...more

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Jul 30, 2015 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Terrific: sharp, smart, introspective, complex, funny, and sad. What you (I) want in a music memoir—a little creative process, a little zeitgeist of the times, a lot of self-awareness without too much self-indulgence. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Brownstein can really write, but it made me happy. Real review to follow.

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Feb 21, 2016 Barbara rated it really liked it

Many people probably know Carrie Brownstein best as an actress on the TV sketch-comedy show "Portlandia." Prior to starring in this hit show, however, Brownstein was (and is) a successful guitarist and singer in the feminist punk rock band Sleater-Kinney, which emerged from the Pacific Northwest region that spawned a slew of alternative rock bands.

In this memoir, Brownstein reveals a love of performing that began in childhood, when she would regale family gatherings with her acting and singing.
Many people probably know Carrie Brownstein best as an actress on the TV sketch-comedy show "Portlandia." Prior to starring in this hit show, however, Brownstein was (and is) a successful guitarist and singer in the feminist punk rock band Sleater-Kinney, which emerged from the Pacific Northwest region that spawned a slew of alternative rock bands.

In this memoir, Brownstein reveals a love of performing that began in childhood, when she would regale family gatherings with her acting and singing. Brownstein goes on to unveil aspects of her formative youth, her mother's anorexia and abandonment of the family, her father's coming-out when she was a young adult, her love of music, her problems settling into college life, and the longing for closeness that seemed to propel much of her behavior and friendships. Though she reveals few names Brownstein mentions relationships with various women and the difficulty of maintaining a romance while touring for months at a time.

Brownstein describes the formation of Sleater-Kinney, writing the songs, and coordinating the guitar and drum music. She talks about her need to connect with the audience and release her inner anguish through the songs, which tend to be somewhat raw and strident. Much of the book is about recording Sleater-Kinney's albums and the tours that followed each release.

The tours were grueling, difficult, and done on the cheap. The band members generally drove to each venue in their cramped van, loaded and unloaded their own equipment, performed (and did photo shoots) in odd thrift store clothes, and slept crowded together on people's floors. The long drives were tedious, the food was bad, there was some tension among the bandmates, and - worst of all - Brownstein often became ill. At one time or another she developed incapacitating back pain, shingles, and severe allergies.

It wasn't easy being a feminist rock group during Sleater-Kinney's original run (1994-2006). Though the band garnered critical and popular acclaim it nevertheless experienced the condescending attitude directed at 'all girl bands', which Brownstein demonstrates with blurbs from music critics - some of whom were trying to be complimentary.

Brownstein talks about numerous punk/grunge/alternative bands that contributed to the music scene of the 1990's and 2000's, some of which - like Nirvana and Pearl Jam - came to be very well known. Moreover, Brownstein's book can almost serve as a primer on the 'business' aspect of running a small band: how to choose bandmates, organize a tour, pick an agent, manager, producer, PR person, and so on.

When Sleater-Kinney went on hiatus in 2006 Brownstein adopted two cats and two dogs for companionship (there's a dreadful anecdote in this section) and pursued other interests - including joining the show "Portlandia." The band began recording again in 2014.

Brownstein seems to be very honest in this book, detailing her successes as well as her problems and occasional bad behavior. She comes across as a talented, intelligent, funny woman and I enjoyed the book, which I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys an interesting memoir.

You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/ ...more

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Oct 18, 2015 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, music, own, read2015, biography-memoir

I actually am not overly familiar with the band Sleater Kinney. Look, I grew up in the northwest in the 90s but because I was overly sheltered and only "allowed" to listen to Christian music, the most daring I got was sneaking a listen to Z100 or secretly borrowing Ani DiFranco and Lilith Fair level music from friends. Sleater Kinney is more a product of the grunge-riot-grrrl bands that would have been more on the periphery as it was, and I am full of sorrow to say I lack any personal experience I actually am not overly familiar with the band Sleater Kinney. Look, I grew up in the northwest in the 90s but because I was overly sheltered and only "allowed" to listen to Christian music, the most daring I got was sneaking a listen to Z100 or secretly borrowing Ani DiFranco and Lilith Fair level music from friends. Sleater Kinney is more a product of the grunge-riot-grrrl bands that would have been more on the periphery as it was, and I am full of sorrow to say I lack any personal experience with the music when it was such a significant thing. Woe, woe is me.

Still, I loved listening to Carrie talk about her personal journey and more about her band's development and struggles. If you come into this book expecting to hear about Portlandia, you won't at all. This is about Carrie the musician. I was pleasantly surprised by her very literary tone. It was bizarre that she kept mentioning Miranda July near the end, since she was the author and narrator of the last audiobook I finished. If you listen to the audio, the Q&A at the end is great, because she talks about favorite authors, books, bands, etc.

This is a long quote, which I transcribed, but I wanted an example of what she is able to capture about this era in music:

“The noise they made in Heavens to Betsy was vicious and strange. It completely changed ones notion of what it meant to be powerful on stage. It was not about strength in numbers, nor in size. It had nothing to do with volume; it was about surprise. It was about knowing you were going to be underestimated by everyone, and then punishing them for those very thoughts…. When you’re part of an early moment, like [Corin] was with Riot Girl, where she had to create a space for herself and for her audience, where every show felt like a statement, where before you could play and sing you had to construct a room, one you’d be respected in, wouldn’t get hurt in, a space that allowed for or even acknowledged stories that hadn’t been told before, about sexual assault, sexism, homophobia and racism, and then musically you have to tear that very space down. There’s not a lot of room for joking around. There’s a direness in the construction of safety, in the telling of theretofore untold stories. I was really intimidated by those Heavens to Betsy shows. I thought, 'These people are so cool and so not funny.' I knew not to kid around or make some crass, sarcastic comment because, well, these people will fuck you up. Heavens to Betsy came across as the most serious of their peers. You stood up, you listened, and you were quiet. They were like really loud librarians. And as the audience, you’d better shut the hell up because you’re in the library of rock right now.”

Okay the first thing that stood out was the really loud librarians comment, obviously, but I also am so intrigued by the idea of a band where everyone would stand around in silence and listen really intently. Brainy, political stuff. Do we have anything like this now? Certainly not in the mainstream.

And of course, a description of the unique nature of the northwest and its impact on music in that era.

“Portland in the 90s… still felt like a place people came to disappear. You can feel the heaviness in the music from that era. The sadness in Nirvana, MudHoney, Cracker Bash, The Wipers, who are from earlier years.The sounds embody the musical equivalent of getting washed up on a beach somewhere. You can feel at the mercy of your surroundings in the northwest, subsisting on dreariness until even your internal landscape feels soggy. It’s depressing, and before the money came in, before the buildings started to reflect the bright ideas and optimism, that sadness was reflected back much more poignantly."

Sleater Kinney broke up for a while but it sounded like they were back together and tentatively working on some songs when this book went to print. ETA: They have performed and I even found a full concert in YouTube from NPR.
...more

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Aug 10, 2015 Jenna rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-reading-challenge, favorite-memoir-of-all-time, music, reviewed

I'm never often enough left to my own devices these days - not nearly as often as my taste would dictate. However, when ever I AM left to my own devices, I'm apt to binge watch Portlandia, revisit the Sleater--Kinney Spotify and You Tube catalog, reminisce about my grungy, nascent feminist, Oregonian youth by reading wonderful books like Sara Marcus's "Girls to the Front" and watching great documentaries like "The Punk Singer," both about Kathleen Hanna and the Riot Grrl movement. I love that th I'm never often enough left to my own devices these days - not nearly as often as my taste would dictate. However, when ever I AM left to my own devices, I'm apt to binge watch Portlandia, revisit the Sleater--Kinney Spotify and You Tube catalog, reminisce about my grungy, nascent feminist, Oregonian youth by reading wonderful books like Sara Marcus's "Girls to the Front" and watching great documentaries like "The Punk Singer," both about Kathleen Hanna and the Riot Grrl movement. I love that these are the memories of my emerging adulthood, that people like Carrie Brownstein and Kurt Cobain are my dreamboats, and I'm super grateful that I'm not even a tiny bit younger than I am, so hard do I identify with my squarely-centered-in-Gen-X, paper-snipping, zine-assembling, postage-applying, pen-palling, mix tape-making, map-and-pay-phone-using, mail-ordering, record and tape bin-digging, card-catalog-employing roots.

We were among the final batch of folks who got to do such things - who had to get so handsy and experimental with exploring toward our adult identities and identifying relevant people, places, artifacts, and information. Just as artisanal craftsmanship is trendy today in food and such, identity-crafting itself used to be a time-consuming artisanal process - one that was liberated by the virtue of not knowing what we didn't know: a lost luxury, these days.

As much as I love my iDevices and whatnot today, I'm entirely unsure how I would have matured into anything remotely like myself if I'd had them at hand back then. The process was the product - a sentiment that can also describe S-K's music and journey, as described by Brownstein in this well crafted memoir.

This is definitely an insider's book: perhaps the most useful thing I can say about it is that you're the right audience for it if you immediately thought you might be, as soon as you saw it, without reading any jacket copy or anything further about it. And if you harbor any interest in S-K, Riot Grrl, and the musical and/or Pacific NW scene of the 90s and early 00s. And, if you identify at all with what I've described previously about trying to grow yourself up in a somewhat countercultural and feminist fashion, unaided by Apple, between the mid/late 70s and that time. Brownstein describes this so much more poetically than I can.

I'm hardly objective when it comes to Brownstein. I think she and Fred Armisen are geniuses. I could watch them take out the trash, and I'd give them five stars for it. I always thought she was the coolest, intriguing member of S-K, and I still think she's beautiful. Despite my prejudice, I think I can honestly declare this an exceptionally pure and often painfully honest memoir. More than many books of this type, it seems to convey Brownstein's true voice and experience. There are no tropes and nothing remotely ghosty. She is unafraid to portray herself unflatteringly, with flaws as flip sides of gifts, but nor does she exaggerate for effect or glamorize the unglam. Her fans will be unsurprised to hear that the writing is elegant, perceptive, observant, careful, thoughtful (great vocabulary!). She is clearly as intelligent as you'd hope: her thinking is sophisticated, in turns keenly analytical and esoteric/broadly conceptual. She demonstrates, of course, both imagination and humor. Basically, she achieves the feat of sympathetically - without being even a bit insufferable - showing what it's like to have a sensitive genius pioneering artist brain, warts and all.

I'm more objective when it comes to S-K's music, which I tend to appreciate and respect more than actually enjoy, with some notable exceptions. (Consolingly, according to Brownstein, this is right on target with the goals of their project!) This book did a great job of helping me understand the significance of their sound and musical approach, both as a band and in the context of the era/movement, and get more out of a listen. The book also offers a fascinating look at interpersonal, dysfunctional-band-family dynamics and the horrors of low-budget/no-budget touring, or touring generally. But, it's also a book about passion generally - how it alternately drives and rends one.

What else? There are beautiful passages about loneliness and attempting to connect to others vis-a-vis listening to or performing music or adulating musical stars or celebrities generally. Great passages about pre-gentrified Portland and cities generally, and how the meaning and signifiers of being a real, great city have changed.

And, as a bonus - Eddie Vedder turns out to be as nice a guy as you thought he'd be, as you'd hoped. Nicer!

And can you believe some douchey Oberlin guys unknowingly threw a shy, gangly, pre-mega-famous Jack White out of a party? I myself went to a little Midwestern liberal arts school so - yeah, I can.

So there's some fun little bits of insider music scene stuff too - there's enough - but nothing gossipy or malicious. The book is more than that. So: recommended! All Hands On [This Good] One! It's Rock 'n Roll Fun!

...more

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Nov 03, 2015 Mariel rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: loud librarians

Recommended to Mariel by: robin

I felt like no one was really looking out for me, that I was marginal and incidental. I compensated by being spongelike, impressionable, and available to whatever and who whoever provided the most comfort, the most sense of belonging. I was learning two sets of skills simultaneously: adaptation- linguistic and aesthetic- in order to fit in, but also, how to survive on my own.

There was an imaginary listener who would find the pink, gold, faberge and fragile crucify yourself eggs in your soundscap

I felt like no one was really looking out for me, that I was marginal and incidental. I compensated by being spongelike, impressionable, and available to whatever and who whoever provided the most comfort, the most sense of belonging. I was learning two sets of skills simultaneously: adaptation- linguistic and aesthetic- in order to fit in, but also, how to survive on my own.

There was an imaginary listener who would find the pink, gold, faberge and fragile crucify yourself eggs in your soundscapes. Sleater-Kinney’s collaborator John Goodmanson named her Jenny. He insisted that they give Jenny something, for her, on her headphones. I really loved this. I always thought listening to your favorite music on headphones instead of stereo was journeying to the favorite dream after it has been raining. Closer bubbles newly to the surface (blaring on the car radio is my absolute favorite, though. It feels like I might be going there in body this time). I love that Sleater-Kinney named their song “Jenny” for this imaginary listener. She’s totally real, awake on headphones dreamer Jenny. I’ve heard that before about finding that person to speak to/for when on stage. A way to make stories real, a Never-ending story wombed in a Tinkerbell belief moral to hold back the loneliness. Sometimes it is a guilt ghost haunting, others it is a recurring suspicion like you could be someone other than you are. Listeners, characters in a story, big ear bodies and Helen Keller’s sole souls. Carrie Brownstein is all of them enough to satisfy my truths.

I was relieved that music had done exactly what I had always wanted it to do, which was turn me into someone else.

She returns a lot to when she was a starving to be seen fan, and when it is her face the human who might know where they have been. Her’s where they have been, also the no one is ever going to be make that whole. I have a lot of “is this all there is?” fears and sometimes I am blessed enough to feel like all the bad times are going to go away sometimes. It is an out of self, in yourself that you can live with. Carrie Brownstein says this in ‘Hunger’. I have no idea how to apply this all the time so you never feel that sickness (Brownstein probably doesn’t either). Tour broke her back, topsy-turvy band-mates that have your back. When they aren’t always going to be there for you. Be your own mountain sherpa and best friend in a sea of thousands of fans who most assuredly understood just like you understood when reading James Baldwin and Carson McCullers. Brownstein’s book is one of those good times when it feels worth it. There’s no way around the back to the alone in that way but there she is chasing that familiar hungering peace, the lift, the alive. This stampede of ravenous spirit animals doesn’t stampede, I don’t know if it is by some grace or what, but I feel unscathed like those times when the song lasts. I couldn’t say for sure why that one night on tour Carrie punched herself into a truth marionette. I’m fascinated with what she wrote about how she and band-mate Corin wrote songs to get back to being friends after they broke up. How singing parts on the other person’s ground brought them back. I’m betting that time has a lot to do with turning back around. The shame and miserable places have their time and then something else gets a chance. That must be why a song that saved your life can still leave you alone helplessly crying on your bathroom floor.
I’m fascinated a lot with their method of letting that happen in their living in music (one time Carrie thinks that she and drummer Janet pushed Corin too hard to get there when she didn’t want to).

I could have read a whole book on any of the slips of her life. The goofy Carrie sitting on the couch of Lauren from 7 Year Bitch. They are larger than life and they are looking for a guitarist. She’s auditioning to be in their band. She talks too much, she makes comparisons to her guitar virtuosoness to John Frusciante (I used to carry a photo of him in my wallet when I was young. I pulled it out for comfort when cast down at work). Those times in your life when you hear yourself talking like a flesh and blood voice recording. I know that persona is a big part of the stage lights. I really loved that Carrie’s is of a by the teeth. I am so familiar with this screw your eyes shut, still feel awkward awful but do it anyway. I wish I remembered that others must be like this too when I feel so bad about that. That’s the thing about other people inhabited space and the space that’s just you. It can feel impossible to bridge. I loved a lot about this book and that is what I loved the most. I wanted to hug her or just keep on reading about this person who pee danced on the grave of her chances to be in that band with an overly personal letter. I could have read about her post Sleater-Kinney days with hundreds of volunteer hours in depression therapy for a dog shelter. I’ve been reading a lot of those dog shelter biographies these days (I’m going to adopt another dog soon) and I got a kick that Brownstein herself wrote those for Portland dog shelters. When her best friend, the cat Hector, is murdered by her dog family and the living cat Lyle doesn’t give one of those understanding animal eyes. Her back pain and severe allergic reactions. Brutal life on tour. Her is it going to be all worth it? Carrie’s mother is disappearing into her body dysmorphia. Behind rehab doors. My impression of eating disorders is like a culture. I’ve read that internet forums for anorexia are password protected to prevent triggers, that just reading about tips to be good at it can cause a relapse. Was it Carrie then or Carrie now who wondered if her mother was missing the anorexic's lifestyle straight-jacket? I related big time to Carrie when her mom befriends a girl her daughter’s age there and they are having the relationship they don’t have. My mom positively doted on a little blonde girl she met in rehab. You know how sometimes it is consoling to have proof instead of generalizations that other people experience what you do? You know that someone must have been through the same thing, but it is a lot less lonely when it comes back like it was shared. I could have read anything Carrie did. I guess time let me have it now. If there's something good at work and good things come when you need them then this book is that for me. I liked so much that she writes about the books she was reading (many of my own favorites) and music she was listening to. Carrie Brownstein would totally get what it is like to read the right book.

It was an extreme way to start, but I learned later on how hard it can become to unsettle yourself, to trip yourself up, and I think that’s a good place to write from. It’s important to undermine yourself and create a level of difficulty so the work doesn’t come too easily. The more comfortable you get, the more money you earn, the more successful you are, the harder it is to create situations where you have to prove yourself and make yourself not just want it, but need it. The stakes should always feel high.

...more

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Apr 20, 2018 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: autobiography, non-fiction

Way more serious and far less funny than I expected. Also, very little about Portlandia. One sentence to be precise.

But that's okay! Having loved Sleater-Kinney and collected 7"s from that band and her prior, Excuse 17, back in the 90s, I probably would've read this book anyway. I'm always ready to hear more stories about riot grrrl and Olympia!

Back then her S-K bandmate Corin Tucker was the one I gave a shit about. I'd fallen in love with Tucker's voice from her previous band, Heavens To Betsy. ...more

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Nov 15, 2015 Jill rated it really liked it

"Riot grrrl is not for girls like me," she thought wistfully, confidently, behind layers of black lipstick and pale foundation, blinking thickly lined eyes, retreating to the safety of Marilyn Manson and Inkubus Sukkubus; Lacuna Coil and Videodrone. The righteously angry, thrashing punk; the seemingly-false claims of camaraderie -- none of it sat quite right. She was alternative, she hated all that mainstream bullshit, but she hated it as a goth girl -- she belonged in the spiderwebby dark.

I sti ...more

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Jan 05, 2016 Rose Behar rated it did not like it

I'm a fan of Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia, as I think probably most of the readers of this book are, so I'd like to issue a general warning that there is no insight in to her comedy prowess here, nor the creation of Portlandia, nor her motivations, her fears, her beliefs-- in fact, there's barely anything in this book at all apart from an incomplete chronological list of events and the frequent repetition of the word "insular."
Is my frustration evident already? I just expected so much more ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 Rachel Reads Ravenously added it

Shelves: did-not-finish

DNF

I was listening to the audio of the book, read by the author. I have not listened to SK or watched Portlandia. I made it to about the third disc when I realized I couldn't stand this woman and didn't care about her life. I only picked this book up because it was in the GR group Our Shared Shelf.

What really got me, as someone who loves animals was (view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 27, 2015 Tobi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: staff-picks, riot-grrrl, memoir, feminist-history, rock-n-roll, punk

I read it last night - review forthcoming - undeniable Nietzschean expression of feminist life force. Really great.

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Nov 13, 2015 Heather Funk rated it liked it

So far, I've found Carrie to be a charismatic, compelling, authentic narrator. This book is authentic to the point that it's a little tough to read as someone who has written on a professional level, which is something I hate to say. I KNOW Carrie is a guitarist and singer, not a writer. But didn't she have an editor? There are two things that I can't get over: her compulsive use of the thesaurus, using words like "ennervated" when "sick" would do, and the HUGE gaps in narration. Like, we would ...more

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Jan 10, 2016 Adam rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016, biographies, music, non-fiction

Put plainly: I did not enjoy Carrie Brownstein's writing style. Not one bit.

I managed to finish the book despite nearly constant eye-rolling at the incredibly overblown, try-too-hard, simile ridden, overwrought prose. The pacing was just brutal to my ear. Unfortunately for this review I have already given the book back to the library, but here are some of the kinds of sentences that appeared all over the book. (Note: these are not quotes, rather just examples of the style)

*I found that music be Put plainly: I did not enjoy Carrie Brownstein's writing style. Not one bit.

I managed to finish the book despite nearly constant eye-rolling at the incredibly overblown, try-too-hard, simile ridden, overwrought prose. The pacing was just brutal to my ear. Unfortunately for this review I have already given the book back to the library, but here are some of the kinds of sentences that appeared all over the book. (Note: these are not quotes, rather just examples of the style)

*I found that music became my savior, my safe place, warm shelter*
*My childhood was full of disappointment, broken promises, a dark shroud*
*Going on tour became something tedious, arduous, a factory job*

and on and on and on. I just could not get over the sentence structure of "The blank was blank, a blank, blank." They always came in threes, and it was 100% of the time unnecessary. She just kept using more and more words to say the same thing. Just piling them on.

I read it because I was interested in the story. I'm a fan of Sleater-Kinney to a degree and I was curious about their beginnings and everything up until recently. For that, it was fine. But I did feel that toward the end she missed an opportunity to talk about working with Wild Flag. I found it odd that she talk about working on the long awaited return album "No Cities to Love," and saying that she forgot how great Janet's drumming sounded; she had worked with her with Wild Flag in between the Sleater-Kinney albums, and less than a year before the most recent one. So, that didn't make sense at all. She didn't talk about working on Portlandia, which I also found weird because that has become a big part of her life and what she is known for by people who aren't familiar with her music. I just figured that since this was a memoir, and she was covering her life (family, pets, band etc.) that she would cover that stuff too. This was much more about following Sleater-Kinney. Many of the chapters are named for an album.

I would find it difficult to recommend this book, but I have talked to other people about the writing style and it didn't bother them at all. So I would say that if you are a big Sleater-Kinney fan, and are really interested, and you aren't as picky as I am, then you should go ahead and read it. Otherwise, just ignore this one. ...more

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Nov 19, 2015 Randee rated it it was ok

Shelves: biography, rock-roll-saved-my-soul

I probably should not have read this book. I've never been a fan of Sleater Kinney or Carrie Brownstein for that matter. But, I have a close friend who is a fan, so I've heard them more often that I would like. I've also watched Portlandia. I like Fred Armisen but I think the show is very hit or miss. I saw this book on the popular picks shelf at my library and I like biographies, so I thought I would give it a shot. I think that Carrie comes off as self important and judgmental. She sounds like ...more

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Aug 17, 2016 Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Nabila by: Emma Watson

Shelves: english, biography-memoir-travelogue, non-fiction

যারা মূলধারা থেকে সরে একটু অনযরকম কিছু করতে চান তাদের লড়াইটা কখনোই সহজ নয়। এবং তিনি যদি নারী হন তবে সে লড়াই আরও বেশ খানিকটা কঠিন হয়ে পড়ে। কোনো একটি কাজের বা পেশার পূরবে 'নারী/মহিলা' শবদটা জুড়ে দিয়ে তাকে কম মান সমপনন হিসেবে পরতিপনন করার একটা সূকষম পরয়াসও যুগ যুগ ধরে চলে আসছে। যেমন মহিলা-কবি (কোনো পুরুষ কবি হলে সে শুধুই কবি, কোনো নারী কবি হলে সে মহিলা-কবি, যেন পুরোপুরি কবি হতে পারলেন না)। 'দযা ভেরি বেসট' হয়ে গেলেও কদাচিৎই এইসব টযাগ থেকে মুকতি পাওয়া সমভব হয়। একজন নারী যখন একজন পুরুষের সাথে সাফলযের যারা মূলধারা থেকে সরে একটু অন্যরকম কিছু করতে চান তাদের লড়াইটা কখনোই সহজ নয়। এবং তিনি যদি নারী হন তবে সে লড়াই আরও বেশ খানিকটা কঠিন হয়ে পড়ে। কোনো একটি কাজের বা পেশার পূর্বে 'নারী/মহিলা' শব্দটা জুড়ে দিয়ে তাকে কম মান সম্পন্ন হিসেবে প্রতিপন্ন করার একটা সূক্ষ্ম প্রয়াসও যুগ যুগ ধরে চলে আসছে। যেমন মহিলা-কবি (কোনো পুরুষ কবি হলে সে শুধুই কবি, কোনো নারী কবি হলে সে মহিলা-কবি, যেন পুরোপুরি কবি হতে পারলেন না)। 'দ্যা ভেরি বেস্ট' হয়ে গেলেও কদাচিৎই এইসব ট্যাগ থেকে মুক্তি পাওয়া সম্ভব হয়। একজন নারী যখন একজন পুরুষের সাথে সাফল্যের সমপর্যায়ে অবস্থান করেন তখন বেশিরভাগ ক্ষেত্রেই নারীটিকে যোগ্যতর থাকতে হয়, 'তর'র মাঝে থাকা সেই অতিরিক্ত যোগ্যতাটুকুর পরিমাণ কখনো সখনো দ্বিগুণ তিনগুণ দেখলেও আমি অবাক হই না। এ ধরণের স্ট্রাগল থেকে বাংলাদেশের অলিগলিতে থাকা আমার যেমন রেহাই নেই, তেমন নেই মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে থাকা ক্যারিরও। পুরুষরা যতই বুক ফুলিয়ে বলে বেড়ান নারীরাই নারীদের আসল শত্রু, কিন্তু এই জায়গাটিতে পৃথিবীর যেসব নারীরা মানসিক দাসত্ব খানিকটা হলেও ভাঙ্গতে পেরেছেন তাদের মাঝে সহমর্মিতার একটি সম্পর্ক রয়েছে, রয়েছে ইউনিভার্সাল সিস্টারহুডের অনুভূতি।

যাই হোক, যখন এমা ওয়াটসন বুক ক্লাবে জুলাই-আগস্টের বই হিসেবে এই বইটি নির্বাচন করা হয় তখনও আমি ভাবিনি এই বইটি আমি পড়বো। বইয়ের নামের শেষে মেময়ার দেখে লেখিকার পরিচয় খুঁজতে গিয়ে দেখলাম তিনি একজন রক গায়িকা, যিনি Sleater-Kinney ব্যান্ডের সদস্য, যাদেরকে পাঙ্ক, ইন্ডি রক, Riot Grrrl জনরার সাথে ব্যান্ড বলে আখ্যায়িত করা হয় (যদিও এত সব ট্যাগ ক্যারির পছন্দ নয় তিনি শুধু 'ব্যান্ড' বলতেই আগ্রহী)। বলাই বাহুল্য আমার প্লে লিস্টে এ সমস্ত জনরার দেখা খুব কমই পাওয়া যায়। আমি Sleater-Kinney সাথেও পরিচিত নই, তাই বইটি পড়তে তেমন আগ্রহ বোধ করিনি। কিন্তু এমা ওয়াটসন বুক ক্লাবের এর আগে নির্বাচিত বইটি (The Complete Persepolis ) আমার অল-টাইম-ফেভারিট লিস্টে যুক্ত হয়ে যাওয়ায় এটিও শেষ পর্যন্ত পড়তে শুরু করি।

কিছু নারীবাদী চর্বিত চর্বণ দিয়ে রিভিউ শুরু করেছি বলে ভেবে বসবেন না বইটি শুধু নারীবাদ সংক্রান্তই। এই সমস্ত ব্যাপার বইটির একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অংশ হলেও পুরো বইটির বিষয়বস্তু ব্যাপক। সব দিক নিয়ে কথা বলার ইচ্ছেও নেই, দরকারও নেই।

শৈশব কৈশোরেই ক্যারিকে দেখতে হয়েছে মায়ের কঠিন অসুখ ও বাড়ি ছাড়া, বাবার হঠাৎ নিজে সমকামী হিসেবে আবিষ্কার করা (যদিও পরবর্তীতে এপ্রিশিয়েট করেছেন কিন্তু প্রাথমিক ধাক্কা ডিনাই করার উপায় নাই)। এসব কারণে সাধারণ পারিবারিক বাঁধন খুঁজে ফেরার চেষ্টা পরবর্তীতে জীবনেও ক্যারির মাঝে দেখা যায়। একদম ছোট্ট ক্যারির মাঝেই পারফর্ম করার ঝোঁক দেখা দেয়। এই বইয়ে আমার আবিষ্কার করা জিনিসগুলোর মাঝে অন্যতম হয়ে থাকবে একজন 'পারফর্মারের মাইন্ডসেট'। এ সম্পর্কে এত স্পষ্ট এবং অকপট বিবরণ আমি কখনো পড়েছি বলে মনে পড়ে না।

বইটার সুন্দর একটা দিক হলো ক্যারি তার জীবনের প্রথমদিক থেকেই জানতেন তিনি কী হতে চান বা কী করতে চান। সেটা জীবনের নানা চড়াই উৎরাই পেরিয়ে যাবার মাঝে কখনো আমূল বদলে যায়নি। অভিজ্ঞতা, বয়স সব কিছুর সাথে কিছু দৃষ্টিকোণে পরিবর্তন এসেছে কিন্তু চাওয়াটার পরিবর্তন হয়নি। সংগীতকে, নিজেকে, Sleater-Kinney কে যেভাবে দেখেছেন, দেখতে চেয়েছে সেদিকেই চলেছেন অকপটে। শুধু তাই নয় যেভাবে চেয়েছেন তার জন্য আদর্শিক যে জায়গা ছিল তা থেকেও কখনো মোহের টানে সরে আসেননি। বইটা ইন্সপিরেশনাল কোনো বই নয়। ইন্সপিরেশনাল বইয়ের সাথে আমার সম্পর্ক বেজায় খারাপ। তবুও যখন নানা কারণে নিজের মেরুদণ্ডের শক্তি হ্রাস পেতে শুরু করেছে তখন এই ব্যাপারটা ছোট্ট, সুন্দর একটা ইন্সপিরেশন হিসেবে কাজ করেছে।

কঠোর পরিশ্রমীদের ক্ষেত্রে ভাগ্য সবসময় সহায় হয় এই কথা ছেলে বেলা থেকে শিখে আসলেও হাতের কাছে তার (ভুলেও মনে করবেন না নিজেকে বোঝাচ্ছি, আমি প্রথম শ্রেণির কুঁড়ে) প্রাপ্ত উদাহরণ খুব বেশি নেই। অনেক প্যাশন, অনেক ইফোর্ট সত্ত্বেও ভাগ্যের কাছে ভালই হেনস্তা হতে হয়েছে ক্যারিকে। তারপরও তার ক্যারির এবং Sleater-Kinney তে থাকা আরও দুজনের পারস্পরিক এবং নিজস্ব ভাঙচুর শেষ বইটা যখন Sleater-Kinney নতুন যাত্রায় এসে শেষ হয়, তখন সে প্রাপ্তির স্পর্শ পাঠক পর্যন্ত পৌঁছে যায়।

অন্য কিছু রিভিউতে দেখলাম, কেউ কেউ বলেছেন Sleater-Kinney ভক্তদের জন্য ভাল বই হতে পারে। আবার Sleater-Kinney ভক্তরা বইতে নানা কিছু খুঁজেছেন তা না পেয়ে বেশ হতাশা প্রকাশ করেছেন। কিন্তু Sleater-Kinney ভক্ত না হয়েও, এমনকি Sleater-Kinney যে ধরণের মিউজিকের সাথে জড়িত তার ভক্ত না হয়েও আমার পড়ার ক্ষেত্রে কোনো সমস্যা হয়নি। বরং বিশেষ কিছু জানার চাহিদা ছিল না বলেই মনে হয় সহজে ভাল লেগে গেছে। এছাড়াও আমার কাছে খুব কম সময়ই কোনো বইতে 'কী নেই' সে ব্যাপারটা কোনো বইকে বিচার করার ক্ষেত্রে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বলে মনেহয়। তবে যা আছে তা আরও কিছুটা ওয়েল-অর্গানাইজড ভাবে থাকতেই পারতো। ...more

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Dec 27, 2015 El rated it really liked it

Shelves: hear-me-roar-and-gender, library-borrow, radio-ga-ga

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to see Sleater-Kinney perform live at Stage AE here in Pittsburgh with my brother and his girlfriend. Sleater-Kinney has long been one of those bands I've been itching to see for the last 20 years or so, but have never made it happen for one reason or another - lived in the wrong place, knew the wrong people, didn't have money, was too well-behaved, whatever. Going to see them this year was like making the 17-year-old me very, very happy.

I also behaved som Earlier this year I had the opportunity to see Sleater-Kinney perform live at Stage AE here in Pittsburgh with my brother and his girlfriend. Sleater-Kinney has long been one of those bands I've been itching to see for the last 20 years or so, but have never made it happen for one reason or another - lived in the wrong place, knew the wrong people, didn't have money, was too well-behaved, whatever. Going to see them this year was like making the 17-year-old me very, very happy.

I also behaved somewhat like the 17-year-old me. Something about the music got inside of me and I'm not necessarily proud of that. But the 17-year-old would have been proud of me, even if Present Self wasn't.

(Thanks to my brother and his girlfriend for not judging me. Too much. I'll be better behaved at whatever next show we go to together.)

Carrie Brownstein is one of those performers I've always had a huge amount of respect for, along with Kim Gordon, or Kathleen Hanna, or Allison Wolfe, or Kim Deal, or... well, the list really goes on. When I heard she had a memoir coming out, I could hardly contain myself. There have been a lot of celebrity memoirs coming out in the past couple of years, and while I'm happy to see that a lot of my tribe has been publishing, I always have this certain anxiety that maybe they'll sound incredibly dumb or arrogant, and I'll lose respect for them.

Luckily Carrie came through, just like I'd hoped she would.

For those who are interested solely in the band, you won't be disappointed either. But there's more than that - there's Carrie's backstory as well, from the relationship she had with her parents (a soap opera in its own right), her desire to be the center of attention not for any real narcissistic reasons but to fill a void she felt in an awkward family dynamic, to her start in the music industry in the Pacific Northwest where it seems most of my tribe has always been. The stuff about the band is what one would expect - tense at times, fun at times, magical at times, and health-threatening at others. I feel if I was in a band and on the road a lot, I also would be the one felled by the craziest health shit as well.

I appreciated her candor throughout. She let us know in no uncertain terms that touring is hard, being in a band is hard, leaving home is hard, depression and anxiety is hard, it's not glamorous, it's not always fun, it's not always worth it. But she also has this understanding that each step of her journey takes her to a new place, and I respect that. It may not always be easy, but she traveled her road in her style, mistakes and all.

I could have enjoyed more pictures just because I have a fascination for the raw look of 90s photos and style, and that chapter before the Epilogue about her animals nearly destroyed me, so I could have done without that. But that's also a part of her life, and she wanted to share that with us, so who am I to complain? Just a fair warning to other animal-lovers - it's not an easy read. One minute I was smiling by how cute her pets sound, and then the next I was in fetal position wanting to cry because it made me so, so sad.

Now that I've seen them perform live after their hiatus, I can appreciate that show all the more since I now understand what their road and their journey has been about. ...more

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Oct 21, 2015 Cat Woods rated it it was amazing

Whether you know Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia or Sleater Kinney, or even if you don't know her, be prepared to embrace her weird wonderful frankness. Honestly, I thought my family was a mess but a gay lawyer dad and a runaway anorexic mum? I pass my trophy on! Emerging in the exciting, petticoat wearing eyeliner smudging, feminist polemic touting Riot Grrrl scene of the early 90s along with Bikini Girl, Babes in Toyland and L7, Sleater Kinney were raw, punk, fierce and fragile all at once. ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Bert rated it really liked it

I was about 18 when i first heard 'One More Hour', such a brilliantly angular, uncomfortable, angsty, catchy song, i probably taped it off the radio or something, and from then on i loved that band but they kinda made me feel anxious. Sleater-Kinney always stayed that weird apoplectic mix of things through the years and Carrie Brownstein's memoir backs that up by being the least rock n' roll memoir ever. Less drugs, groupies and booze, more shingles, panic-attacks and soy-allergies, hot. Carrie ...more

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Apr 15, 2015 Zack Ruskin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015

Before Portlandia, before Sleater-Kinney, there was a girl living in the Pacific Northwest with big ambitions, desperately yearning for an identity all her own. In Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein strays from the normal parameters of the memoir format to give readers an insightful, raw look into her past and the moments that shaped her into the person who would later co-found one of the world’s most influential rock bands. Navigating a past fraught with family turmoil, rejection ...more

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Sep 09, 2015 Rachel León rated it it was amazing

(4.5 stars, rounded up because I have a huge art crush on Carrie Brownstein) I'm not a huge fan of memoirs, but I read them when there is enough buzz about a book--or as in this case, I love the author. My only complaint with this book is that it wasn't longer because I didn't want it to end. Brownstein is smart, funny, witty, and totally kicks ass and this book is all those things.

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Our Shared Shelf: When men sing personal songs, they seem evolved, unlike women, who feel tiresome. Why is that?	6	87	Sep 12, 2018 05:42PM
Girls Against Boo...: June- Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl	2	3	Jun 18, 2018 06:09AM
Our Shared Shelf: Identity Formation in Youth	15	1269	Aug 24, 2016 12:33PM
Our Shared Shelf: An Underground Generation	3	171	Jul 29, 2016 05:47PM

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About Carrie Brownstein

Carrie Brownstein

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Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, writer, and actress. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the punk-indie trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus from Sleater-Kinney she formed the group Wild Flag. During this period, Brownstein wrote and appeared in a series of comedy sketches with Fred Armisen which were then d ...more

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Quotes from Hunger Makes Me a...

“My favorite kind of musical experience is to feel afterward that your heart is filled up and transformed, like it is pumping a whole new kind of blood into your veins. This is what it is to be a fan: curious, open, desiring for connection, to feel like art has chosen you, claimed you as its witness.” — 67 likes

“Nostalgia is recall without the criticism of the present day, all the good parts, memory without the pain. Finally, nostalgia asks so little of us, just to be noticed and revisited;” — 51 likes

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