Music + Book Pairings: Edition #3

It’s time for another Backbeat music and book pairing! This week, we’re featuring Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by the multi-talented comedian, punk rocker, feminist, actress, and riot-grrrl Carrie Brownstein.

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. 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.

We suggest pairing it with Sleater-Kinney’s No Cities to Love. This critically-acclaimed album features Brownstein’s guitar, vocal and writing talent and was a recipient of major accolades. It ranked #14 on Billboards’s 25 Best Albums of 2015, #11 on Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums of 2015, and #1 on Daily Beast’s The Best Albums of 2015, just to name a few.

Alternate pairings this time include another book: Rock ‘N’ Roll Camp for Girls: How to Start a Band, Write Songs, Record an Album, and ROCK OUT!” with a foreword by Carrie Brownstein. It’s currently available in our secondhand music book section.

Fun Fact/Quote: “People always ask if Portland is like Portlandia, and I say it’s weirder.”