Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir

A deeply touching memoir. A must read for any Sleater-Kinney fan. I read the entire book in one sitting. Carrie writes so beautifully and breaks down the "fatasy" of being larger than life. By telling touching and raw stories she reveals that she is merely one of us! Read it, you won't be disappointed.

The way Carrie writes about her love of music, the ways in which it has buoyed and saved her, from a child without ties in an increasingly confusing family life, to a musician herself, is heartbreaking, warming, and incredibly funny. For someone who has never been a casual fan of music I see so much of my own story reflected in Carrie's words. Thank you.

Loved this book...I lived in Olympia during this same time, know a few of the folks mentioned (I worked for Julie back then and that's how I got my Dig Me Out CD!). SO much nostalgia for me, thanks for an honest and thoughtful memoir Carrie.

Absolute must-read for any Sleater-Kinney fan. Honest, funny and insightful - Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl is required reading for anyone who wants to understand not only Carrie Brownstein as a musician and human being, but also for anyone who wants to understand Sleater-Kinney. As a fan, I know what these albums mean to me. But this book showed me what they mean to Sleater-Kinney - the how and the why - and I have a newfound appreciation for every single one of their records.

Loved this book...I lived in Olympia during this same time, know a few of the folks mentioned (I worked for Julie back then and that's how I got my Dig Me Out CD!). SO much nostalgia for me, thanks for an honest and thoughtful memoir Carrie.

Absolute must-read for any Sleater-Kinney fan. Honest, funny and insightful - Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl is required reading for anyone who wants to understand not only Carrie Brownstein as a musician and human being, but also for anyone who wants to understand Sleater-Kinney. As a fan, I know what these albums mean to me. But this book showed me what they mean to Sleater-Kinney - the how and the why - and I have a newfound appreciation for every single one of their records.

Got this book because I love her acting, style, and personality. However, the book was incredibly dull, she lead an interesting life, but the story was poorly executed. The book felt very contrived at times and some parts were so boring that I almost put the book down. I kept on reading hoping the pace would change, or that something would get better, but ended the book feeling a little irritated for having wasted my time, anticipating an excellent book because of the title. yawn

It was only by chance I puchased “Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl” by Carrie Browstein. I was browsing in the store.com’s first physical bookstore at University Village in Seattle. I was looking for “something new, and something local”. I found Ms. Brownstein’s Memoir at the same time as “The Bassoon King” by Rainn Wilson. Despite being slightly aware of Sleater-Kinney years ago, and aware also of the long running “The Office” in which Rainn Wilson acted. However, I had not listened to Sleater-Kinney music because it had a word of mouth reputation as being angular, harsh, ennervating, loud and the type of music that did not “intend” to please the ear. All of those qualities, turn out to be true (for me, I should add). Thankfully, Brownstein admits those qualities in her book several times, so that issue is “off the table” in this review. Likewise, I have never watched an episode of “The Office”. I am an outcast from contemporary culture! That’s OK, I have excuses, among them my age. I purchased both books intending to give them to my son and daughter as presents. When I did tell my son and daughter what I purchased for them they both smirked and laughed. So I started to read both myself, despite being so skeptical of authors writing memoirs in their 30’s or 40’s. Seems to me to be premature - and I will hold onto that judgement in my review and not give any quarter.

Both Rainn Wilson and Carrie Browstein have had “second acts” that supersede their initial successes in music and acting. In the case of Brownstein, Portlandia, though it is not a topic in her Sleater Kinney memoir. In the case of Rainn Wilson, the web initiative Soul Pancake.

Let’s leave it at this I expect to hear so many more good things from the art and craft of Carrie Brownstein. She started out in Redmond, Washington a developing misanthropic artist, rebellious. Look at the cover art. However, she winds up with the 2015release of “In the Woods” after her band returns to tour after a hiatus of years with mature music and her performances of “Dig Me Out”. Recorded on a major label, SubPop.

Sleater Kinney, and Carrie Brownstein herself, show us the emerging youthful artistic spirit insisting on a prominent place in the world for it. That’s what we all want, don’t we? That’s what we wanted when we were young. And we work hard for our place in the world on our own terms despite being “angular, harsh and ennervating” because that’s the way we feel even today.

Time for you, and many other readers, to buy Carrie Brownstein’s memoir even though it doesn’t include “Portlandia”. Focus on Sleater-Kinney at the moment. And there will be more to come from Brownstein after “Portlandia. After all, it’s a premature and partial memoir. How dare she be so presumptious. Pssh! A memoir!?

"Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir" (2015 publication; 254 pages) is the memoir from Sleater-Kinney's singer-guitarist Carrie Brownstein, these days probably best known for her role as the creator/writer/co-star in the "Portlandia" TV series. As the book pens, In the book's prologue, Brownstein sets the stage on how she was dealing with shingles while the band is about to perform in Brussels, Belgium, "and I was about to destroy Sleater-Kinney"... We then go back in time and the author tells of her days growing up in Redmond, WA (home of Microsoft, of course), and how this middle-class Jewish girl became a music fan (B-52s, Madonna, Duran Duran and others all pass the review)., all of which would eventually lead to her reaching out to the alternative punk and indie music scene in Seattle and later Olympia and beyond.

Brownstein does a masterful job in making us understand why she became restless and needed to get out of her comfortable middle-class environment. The importance of certain bands in her youth cannot be underestimated: "Bikini Kill's music really gave me a form, a home, and a physicality to my teenage turmoil." Brownstein does not disguise how very humble (and poor) the beginnings of Sleater-Kinney were, but she does not let on that it bothered her, probably because when the band started, she was only 21 or so, and her tolerance level for putting up with less than ideal or comfortable touring conditions was quite high then. Brownstein goes through the various phases of the band, and along with that, the various albums. If you are a music fan, it is fascinating stuff to read. For others, not so much I suspect.

In case it wasn't clear yet, this is very much a music memoir, more so than a 'coming of age' memoir that happens to be set in the music business (a great example of the latter is Chrissie Hynde's memoir "Reckless: My Life As a Pretender", which in fact has little to do with her days in the Pretenders). Brownstein also has some interesting thoughts about the so-called 'selling out' of indie bands when signing to a major label, implying between the lines that if they could've done it all over again, Sleater-Kinney would've signed with a major, or at least bigger label, rather than Kill Rock Stars, back in the day. But the most noticeable thing that comes through this memoir is the ferocity with which Brownstein approached her career as a musician: "I wanted our shows not just to be galvanic, I wanted to destroy the room. More than that, I wanted to obliterate myself, to unlock and uncork the anger, to disappear into the sound and into the music", wow.

If you are wondering whether the book cover's the band's return in 2015, it does (in a few pages). If you are hoping for Brownstein's take on "Portlandia", do not buy this book, as she does not cover it at all (not even mention it, I might add). Instead, this is strictly a rock memoir, and an essential one for anyone interested in punk or indie music. "Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I recommend reading 'Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl' if you enjoy lucid intelligent autobiographies and you are curious about music groups which have had a certain level of critical success, but not a huge general public exposure. I recognized a very Pacific Northwest character in the author Carrie Brownstein, having been born and raised in western Washington state myself.

The book is an autobiography by Brownstein and I enjoyed it very much. She is a great writer, and she describes quite cogently a story of a middle-class child looking and needing to establish herself in the world. She becomes a member of a several bands, eventually forming her own called Sleater-Kinney, singing and writing songs and playing a guitar on playhouse stages around the world. It isn't exactly as glamorous as one hopes for, including for Brownstein who had her own expectations disappointed, but there were adventures and interesting times while traveling in different countries, meeting other music people and learning to handle playing to audiences as small as four people or large enough to fill a club; sometimes playing as the opening band and sometimes as the headliner. It seems as good enough of a way to come of age, better than most women.

I thought her occasional and situational misery and confusion was about being somewhat unable to find the 'her' she wanted, the person inside the job of being on stage and recording music. I don't think she found enough fulfillment in that. She ends on what seemed to me a note of acceptance that she got what she wanted - a music band and a role as a band singer - but it wasn't as cool as she had hoped.

It seems to me that Brownstein wanted a complete and satisfying role (don't we all), but I suspect the nature of the music business is too much role-playing, in my opinion. A music band begun when a youth may not be a good way to express one's true self or be a way to have a deep meaningful connection with people, especially if you aren't sure of what you are or need as a teenager. Being a band member as she, and others, have described seems to me to require more of being a technician and an actor, not being soulfully self-aware. That may have been the reason she seemed to struggle with depression and loss long after the hard touring, maybe not knowing entirely why she was sad, except for the obvious exhaustion. It also seems to me she was undergoing an excessive amount of new experiences in too short of a time period. I think that a compression of intense experiences can lead to a kind of trauma. Perhaps her childhood with one parent missing and both parents somewhat withholding of their affections, along with their divorce, left too big of an emotional emptiness a child as she was needed. She mentions she eventually thinks she needed to feel as if her band and friends were a real family, so it is possible she realized the connection.

I thought the book well-written and interesting.

A​h, another rock memoir. Hunger Made Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein came out pretty much on my birthday (Oct 28) and it was by far one of the best birthdays presents I could have gotten (for myself). I am a HUGE Sleater-Kinney fan and have been for a while, but unlike some bands where I need to know every single thing about everyone involved, I actually haven’t read much into the band or the band members personally and admire them solely for their music. So this was a very interesting snapshot behind the scenes for me and going in blind actually made it a very cool.

​This didn’t read like a typical memoir to me. It wasn’t laced with accomplishments and stories that basically show how cool Brownstein is. In fact, it was quite the opposite; full of insecurities and personal doubts and embarrassing struggles. It was very intimate in that sense, intimate yet still somehow able to keep the reader at arm’s length. There were personal stories and feelings and insights, but everything still felt pretty guarded.

Mostly, though, this was a verbal account of Brownstein’s musical career. From her early obsessive fangirl days, to trying to form her first bands, to forming Sleater-Kinney and walking the reader through recording sessions of each Sleater-Kinney album. It was more about what she was thinking and feeling while writing and recording these albums as opposed to any kind of broad general life analysis, which I thought was awesome, considering it is the music that drew me to them in the first place. It resonated with me deeper than anything else would have. Reading back on their early days and discovering their story through Brownstein’s words and memories was a great reader experience.

The description of that first moment when it all clicked​ for her,​ when she listened to Bikini Kill and suddenly, her entire life was explained in one song. THAT is what music is for me. THAT is a feeling ​I​ will never forget and never get tired of. And that was my favourite part of the book. It was the descriptions of music by someone so passionately a fan of music, that’s what makes this book so great.

I have read a ton of music books and memoirs and I don’t think any of them are as rawly descriptive about the writing and performing and touring as this here is. ​This was great.

Originally posted on citygirlscapes.com

Carrie Brownstein has an intensely passionate stage presence and the Sleater-Kinney live shows completely overwhelm your senses. (I've seen them live about a half-dozen times.)

So, it was a little odd that this book is so intellectual and written with an almost distant perspective of her own self. But, then in the reading, I started to understand that this is who she truly is and I could accept the writing as herself. The best parts of the book are Carrie's evocations of the '90s music/film/art scene and her desperate search for belonging. As a fellow post-punk who went through the same soul-searching, her writing really hit the most home for me.

I only knew Brownstein from her show Portlandia when I heard about this memoir. I gathered from a vague synopsis I was told that she dabbled in music- I was completely unaware that music was her start. So I came at this expecting funny, and instead got deep, thoughtful insight into being a musician.

In the latter half of the memoir, Brownstein begins discussing her anxiety in depth, but backs away from it again almost as quick, and that's my only draw back. I'd like to have had more, simply because it's always relieving to hear other people's experience with anxiety; to feel less alone there.

Still, it was an overall incredible read.

Where do I start?!? Poorly written book. It feels like she sat near a thesaurus to look up alternate words for each sentence (or maybe her writer did), to the point where it feels contrived and fake. This book was like pulling teeth to the point where I felt like I was reading a bunch of nonsense metaphors. To top it off....boring!!!! Could not make it through this book!! Don't waste your time!

This is an interesting book. I liked it even though I'm not a big Sleater-Kinney fan. My knowledge of Carrie Brownstein stems more from Portlandia. I think this book is probably really powerful to Sleater-Kinney fans because she talks to much about the individual songs, albums, tours, and songwriting. My only minor complaint is that I wish she had used plainer language. She uses big, fancy words and some of them are so obscure it takes you out of the story. Good book though. Glad I read it.

Book: Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Author: Carrie Brownstein
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I think I have just found my least favourite Our Shared Shelf book. This is one that I have been putting off reading, because I just had a feeling that I was not going to like it and I was right. It just clearly was not my cup of tea.

Carrie's memoir was severely lacking that pull toward her that is required in a good memoir. It didn't seem like she was excited about anything and just came across as a very dry person. She made herself seem super important and that everyone else in her life was just there to support her. The events she talks about in her personal life were just mentioned in passing. Her music, which is supposed to be the focus of the book, was just lacking the passion.

This is a very thin read. No, I don't mean the book is thin, I mean it is just lacking. It is overwritten, with too much focus being on how Carrie is the star of the show. It's all about Carrie, not about anything else. It is poorly paced. It seems like she did not listen to anything her editor said. The writing is poor, which for her being a songwriter is kind of shocking. Maybe her songs are just as shallow as her writing, I hope not. It did not make me want to go out of find out more about her, which is something that memoirs are supposed to be. To be honest, it felt like I was reading something about the band that really wasn't written by one of their members.

The other books that we have read for Our Shared Shelf were actually pretty good, but this one just fell short. This does not mean that I am going to give up on reading the books; it just means that I'm really going to do my homework before I start reading. I do have this month's pick checked out from the library. Stand by for my review on it-I think it will like this month's, I'm familiar with the author.

Their is something beautiful and majestic about Carrie Brownstein. However, I think she could have spent more time on this book. It's kind of patchy. I listened to the audiobook and I appreciate that she narrated it, but I was left wondering if I had accidentally skipped sections. I did enjoy it though. The most significant thing I was left with was that even though she is in my eyes is a very successful entertainer, she still feels like a fan on the outside to a degree (until she is portrayed as a cartoon on Bob's Burgers), which is insightful and should be explored by a sociologist I think. Do 'stars' feel like outsiders? IDK, I try to imagine if I were semifamous would I want to put everything about me in a book, I don't think I would. But maybe there is a 'memoir' movement right now?

As a long (very long!)-time Sleater-Kinney fan and someone who was just slightly too young, but nonetheless enthusiastic about the Riot Grrrl movement, I was beyond excited to read this book. It's connected the dots for some of the early associations that I missed by being born 7-10 years too late to fully embrace Riot Grrrl or the Olympia scene, and offered an interesting look into both S-K's early days and former bands Excuse 17 and Heavens to Betsy. I lost track of S-K's work for awhile between The Hot Rock and The Woods, only to dive right back in, and it was an incentive to pick up this book ... My love of the band and its members has only been resparked. Seriously, a great read whether you are into S-K or want to learn more about the Olympia scene in the early '90s.

An engaging and easy read. Would have liked to hear more about her development and experiences as a musician - she more surveyed that part of her life. She has a lot to talk about but doesn't do so in as great a depth as her life warrants. It was more a list of things that happened. Still a good read, though.

Awesome book. Ms. Brownstein uses her life and music to paint a picture of what life is like for many people who are trying to find their place in a world where conformity is expected from everyone. Her passion has inspired me to focus more on what's important to me, not what is expected of me.

This book is funny, intelligent, insightful and a great read! I didn't really know her story or the story of Sleater Kinney. I knew Carrie from Portlandia so to was full of surprises for me. From her childhood and family drama to forming her Band. It was just a blast to read. I highly recommend this book. I absolutely loved it. Thank you Carrie!

I also agree that this book should have been written by a third party.I found it stilted and overly focused on the minutiae of her day to day instead of shedding light on Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss' personalities and their collective (and/or individual) creative processes. She seems overly interested in being articulate, show casing her extensive vocabulary and turning clever phrases rather than conveying deep meaning or painting a vivid picture. Because she does not give us much of anything about her family members' personalities or her band mates for that matter (it seems that she was concerned with being polite perhaps which is ironic given the bands' aversion to, and efforts to shatter such stereotypes), the characters are only scantily developed.It is an interesting story but I can't help feeling like there was so much more that was left untold in favor of vague stories about having drinks or laughs or fights or how generous Eddie Vedder was but only providing minimal detail as to the underlying acts, jokes, grudges, participants.It feels like a missed opportunity from a clearly intelligent woman who has led a very interesting life.