Hunger
Makes Me a Modern Girl is a memoir written by Carrie Brownstein, but if you are
looking for details about her time in the band Wild Flag or her show Portlandia
you are going to be disappointed. This memoir is all about Carrie’s love of
music and her band Sleater-Kinney.
The book
starts with Carrie telling about her family, her upbringing and how her love of
music began. The way that she talks about being a fan is something that I have
tried to describe to others and until now have not heard a proper description
of outside of Almost Famous. Soon we transition into how Carrie became involved
in the Olympia scene and how she met Corin Tucker.
The rest of
the book documents Carrie’s time with Sleater-Kinney moving from the formation
into descriptions of each album and finally the ultimate demise and breakup of
the band. I love the chapters in which Carrie’s talks about how they wrote and
recorded the songs for each album. There are some really great insights into
what the songs are written about and also how they came to create the sound of
Sleater-Kinney. The chapters that talk about touring are also really
interesting…it is not as glamorous as people think. As a fan of Sleater-Kinney
I love getting an inside look of the creation of the songs that I love.
Carrie also
talks about the relationships she has with the other members of Sleater-Kinney.
Carrie has such an interesting connection with Corin Tucker, it has not been an
easy road for them but they have such an incredible respect and love for each
other. Sleater-Kinney, and also Carrie’s music career, could not have happened
without Corin. I think that this book made me love Janet Weiss more, if that is
possible. Carrie really only has good things to say about Janet and really
Janet is one of the best drummers ever.
Throughout
the book Carrie openly talks about her mental health and everything that she
says is completely relatable. It blows my mind that someone who is so confident
on stage can suffer from anxiety and depression…it made me feel a little bit
less alone. I believe that it is so important that people like Carrie talk
about metal health, you never know who it might affect.
The writing
is engaging, thoughtful, and poignant. I was never once bored while reading
this book…which is saying a lot for a memoir. I know that for years to come I
will reread Hunger and will find new things held within the pages. I believe
that this should be required reading for not only fans of Sleater-Kinney but
fans of music.
