Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

A Memoir

By: Carrie Brownstein

Narrated by: Carrie Brownstein

From the guitarist of the pioneering band Sleater-Kinney, the book Kim Gordon says "everyone has been waiting for" and a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 - a candid, funny, and deeply personal look at making a life - and finding yourself - in music.

Before Carrie Brownstein became a music icon, she was a young girl growing up in the Pacific Northwest just as it was becoming the setting for one the most important movements in rock history. Seeking a sense of home and identity, she would discover both while moving from spectator to creator in experiencing the power and mystery of a live performance. With Sleater-Kinney, Brownstein and her bandmates rose to prominence in the burgeoning underground feminist punk-rock movement that would define music and pop culture in the 1990s. They would be cited as “America’s best rock band” by legendary music critic Greil Marcus for their defiant, exuberant brand of punk that resisted labels and limitations, and redefined notions of gender in rock.

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is an intimate and revealing narrative of her escape from a turbulent family life into a world where music was the means toward self-invention, community, and rescue. Along the way, Brownstein chronicles the excitement and contradictions within the era’s flourishing and fiercely independent music subculture, including experiences that sowed the seeds for the observational satire of the popular television series Portlandia years later.

With deft, lucid prose Brownstein proves herself as formidable on the page as on the stage. Accessibly raw, honest, and heartfelt, this book captures the experience of being a young woman, a born performer, and an outsider, and ultimately finding one’s true calling through hard work, courage and the intoxicating power of rock and roll.

©2015 Carrie Brownstein (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"In the vast library of recent rock memoirs...Ms. Brownstein’s may be the one that most nakedly exposes its author’s personality." (The New York Times)

"Carrie Brownstein writes the way she plays guitar, with raw honesty, passion, and great humor in Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl." (Vanity Fair)

"A memoir that's both candid and brave, and a powerful tribute to the power of music to heal, to connect, to break you down and then make you whole again.... Brownstein's music has always helped people feel like they really do belong somewhere, and her wonderful memoir does the same thing." (NPR)

One Sentence

This book was really amazing, Carrie is smart and witty writer who passionately conveys the feeling of what it is to be a fan of music and art. My only qualm is that, as a huge of her comedy as well as her music I was really hoping I'd get more information on how she met Fred Armisen and about the process of making Portlandia. Besides one sentence mentioning Fred she doesn't cover any of it. Still worth the read tho. Better if you are a bigger Sleater-Kinney fan than Portlandia.

Impressive Expansive and Beautiful

I was blown away by this book. Carrie writes magnificently and the narration could not have been better. I would recommend this audio book to anyone, simply because she has a unique perspective and style. It doesn't matter how familiar a listener is with her work as a musician /actor, it's just good.

Genius

I had no idea who she was, I just stumbled upon this book. Carrie Brownstein is a brilliant, creative genius.

More than a fan!

I was introduced to Carrie via Portlandia, but now more than a fan of Carrie's! :)

Easily One of My Favorite Books

Would you consider the audio edition of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version yet, but the author does such a fantastic job at narrating that I'd have to say "yes" regardless.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely.

Insightful and Honest

I really liked this autobiography by Carrie Brownstein. Her reflections on touring with Sleater-Kinney were especially interesting and insightful. Plus she is so honest in the way she talks about her own struggles with mental illness and a difficult childhood. If you like the band or her work in Portlandia, you should definitely check out this book.

Loved the trip via riot grrrl Olympia

I may be a little, or a lot biased as an alt punk riot fan being from, and having a love of Olympia and Portland, so those insider references to local venues, nuances, attitudes of the Pacific Northwest were like taking a trip with an old friend. On tap of that, I think the story has so much broad resonance as that of a young girl who breaks through and grows up in music. Real, honest self-assessment and learnings.

A Raw and Excellent Riff!

Carrie’s narrative brought to light many of the insecurities that plague everyone at times, a voice the reader can intimately relate with. Her inner dialogue, I am happy and grateful to take notes from. Her creativity, honesty, and will power, even when darkness looms, gives life to her audience and helps us learn to search for what we really crave. In Carrie’s case, stability, good people who love and love back , Furry friends included, and the semblance of Home in whatever form it may be, creativity and the joy of an audience will always be essential. She speaks truth about our ability to hurt one another and demonstrates the self control it takes to practice preventative medicine. Her words will help others sustain progress and contribute to “whatever world” we hope to influence. Her witty, yet eloquent vocabulary, gives the reader a “raw riff” into her life as a friend, musician, daughter, student, and human - susceptible to real pain and heartache. You want her as a friend, you want her listening ear and sage advice accompanied by a “kick A—“ attitude. Carrie is Value Added. Now, I’m a bigger fan of Carrie and all her creative gifts, but ultimately I’m a fan of the person she has become.

I fell in love with Carrie Brownstein and ask water Kinney all over again

As a fan of the band for the past 15+ years, this book was an absolute joy. It's a heartfelt and inspired look into a world I often wondered so much about. Carrie's story is told in such a poignant way -- she is an amazing story teller. I must say that hearing her read the words she so passionately wrote, made me feel like I was hearing a friend talk to me for hours, while I listened intently. The saddest part is that it's over. And now I feel like I'm going to miss hearing my friend. Guess I'll have to listen to it again at some point. :)

Everything a true Sleater-Kinney fan wished for.

The yin & yang of the story. A love story to the band that saved her life.