BOOK 195: HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL: CARRIE BROWNSTEIN

BOOK 195: HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL: CARRIE BROWNSTEIN

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- grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest, known for their prodigious guitar shredding and their leftist lyrics against war, traditionalism, and gender roles.

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 Stonereaders' 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.

MY VERDICT: I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  This genre (the autobiography of women in bands or other creative careers) is one of my favourites. It’s reassuring to know that no matter what someone appears to be from the outside they’re often very much like me in a lot of ways. It’s fascinating to think that someone who confidently plays instruments and sings on stage in front of thousands of people might actually be as shy as I am.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and it didn’t disappoint. I actually came into it unfamiliar with Carrie Brownstein’s band Sleater-Kinney and only knew her from Portlandia so to see this side of her life and where she came from was interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who is the fan of the genre (that I may or may not have made up) whether you know the music or not. (I’m off to listen to the band now that I have all the context to link to the music I think I’ll appreciate it more.)

BOOK 162: LOITERING WITH INTENT: MURIEL SPARK

Published in 1981 by Bodley Head it was short-listed for the Booker Prize that year. It contains many autobiographical references to Spark's early career and was reprinted in 2001 by New Directions, in the US, and in 2007 by Virago Press in the UK (with a foreword by Mark Lawson).

BOOK 137: AUTOBIOGRAPHY: MORRISSEY

Autobiography is a book by the British singer-songwriter Morrissey, published in October 2013.

Controversially, it was published under the Penguin Classics imprint. It was a number one best-seller in the UK and received polarised reviews, with certain reviewers hailing it as brilliant writing and others decrying it as overwrought and self-indulgent.

A few days before the book's apparently scheduled, but unannounced, release on 16 September 2013, Morrissey issued a statement explaining that a content dispute with Penguin Books meant that publication would be delayed and that he was seeking a new publisher.‪The book's subsequent European release, on 17 October 2013, caused controversy as it was published under the Penguin Classics imprint, normally reserved for highly esteemed deceased authors.‪

The book is not divided into chapters and its opening paragraph lasts four-and-a-half pages.‪ The book covers Morrissey's childhood and adolescence, his period as lead singer with The Smiths, his subsequent solo career and his courtroom battles with Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, who sued him for royalties in the 1990s. He writes extensively about the television, literature and music that influenced him, devoting many pages to the New York Dolls, whom he persuaded to reform in the 2000s. The book includes a number of descriptions of people Morrissey has worked with which his biographer Tony Fletcher calls "character assassinations". Fletcher describes the depiction of Rough Trade Records boss Geoff Travis as particularly unflattering.‪ Morrissey writes in the book about two serious romantic relationships he has had with a woman and a man.‪ In the days following the book's release, he issued a statement emphasising that he did not consider himself to be gay: "I am attracted to humans. But, of course, not many".‪

The book was not issued with an index, although an informal and unauthorised "online index" created by a fan was released on 22 May 2014.

BOOK 132: CASH: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY: JOHNNY CASH

Cash: The Autobiography is a 1997 autobiography of Johnny Cash, country musician, written twenty years after his first autobiography, Man in Black. Cash co-wrote this book with Patrick Carr. Cash's autobiographies were the basis for the award-winning biopic Walk the Line in 2005.

A few amazing documentaries I’ve watched recently…

Cracked Actor

IMDB calls this a look at Bowie’s drugs years but I think this is misleading.  He’s not seen taking drugs and doesn’t talk about them; it’s not a documentary about drugs.

It’s a documentary about a very confused, creative, exhausted artist who feels the demands of alter egos, superstardom, his public and critics.

It’s on the list of the 50 best documentaries and if you’re a fan of Bowie there’s lots of great songs playing pretty much over the entire thing.  It’s not recommended if you’re used to very easy documentaries that covers the whole of someone’s life and inane details about their hometown etc.

The World According to Parr

Another ‘Imagine’ documentary brought to us by Alan Yentob (who is in my eyes a genius and I was lucky enough to stand a hairs breath from him at a Bruce Nauman exhibition).

In my eyes one of the most beautiful things about the imagine photographers series is that the shots they chose to transition with are in the style of the photographers photographs that at some points you think you’re looking at another example of their work.  It’s a beautifully simple motif that I noticed in this documentary, and the documentary about Vivian Maier. 

I am a fan of Parr’s and have been since College.  I think the thing I admired about him was his collecting nature, the way he saw a connection between to things or in a certain place and brought them together.  The way he has tunnel vision for kitsch teacups and awful wallpaper.  From this documentary I found out he actually collects wallpaper, and all kinds of ephemera with photographs on them, from royal family tea trays to Sadam Hussein watches.  I admire him because of the sheer amount of photographs he takes with such a keen and interested eye.

Werner Herzog: Beyond Reason

Another Imagine documentary, another amazing character.  This time not a photographer but a filmmaker and someone who I admire not for their eye but for their imagination, determination and coolness in dramatic circumstances.  Grizzly Man was the first film I watched by Herzog and I was blown away.  Certain films just get me, they pull me in, they make me feel as if I was there and they give me a great amount of inspiration despite not being related to anything I was doing at all.  Werner Herzog for me is the king of the sound bites, after being shot, during an interview for the culture show; he claimed it was not ‘a significant wound.’  He made a bet that if the filmmaker (then unknown) Errol Morris finished his first film he would eat his shoes.  Obviously he did and Herzog ate his shoes in front of an audience at the premiere.  When asked what it was like he said, ‘It is easy to eat a shoe, it doesn’t do any harm to anyone.’

I have boundless admiration for Herzog as a filmmaker, an artist and a man and I would urge you to watch this amazing documentary whether you are a fan or he is unknown to you.  A fascinating watch.

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

For me one of the most amazing things about this documentary is the fact that Hunter S Thompson agreed to be interviewed for it.  I had no idea that he worked with Leibovitz, but of course they were at Rolling Stone together.  They were not particularly keen on each other either.  I’m not the biggest fan of Leibovitz’s work generally but some of are images are iconic, there’s absolutely no denying it (John and Yoko for example.) 

Leibovitz’s work is a complete contrast to the other photographers’ work I’ve been researching lately.  Parr and Maier are street photographers who snap on the go, they catch things that are real and instantaneous.  Leibovitz styles and sets up a lot of her photographs (especially the celebrity portraits.) In this documentary you do get to see a different side to her work, such as the photographs of fans at the concerts of The Rolling Stones (she went on tour with them for the entire tour, usually unheard of with photographers.) 

Leibovitz’s work is very contemporary, she portrays pop culture in whatever era she’s working in and that is culturally important.  I think her work will be more classic as time goes on. This is an interesting documentary and I found it particularly interesting as I am a fan of magazines and editorial work and there is an insight into that industry.

Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures

Vivian Maier, infamous now, had been taking photographs, thousands and thousands of them throughout her life but was not discovered until after her death. A nanny, who in her spare time took amazing photographs of people on the street, the children she looked after, markets, buildings, trains and herself.  Yet she never showed these to anyone one and they were found by accident when she could no longer afford the storage bills on the containers where the thousands of films, negatives and prints were all kept.  It was only after someone posted some of the photos that they bought at auction on the internet that interest arose in the nanny’s pictures and now they are selling for thousands of dollars each.

I admire Miss Maier’s bravery at encountering people in the street, sometimes in bad neighborhoods and taking their photo so close up and almost invading their privacy.  She, despite being an outsider and seemingly rather lonely, must have had some real guts.

Book 78: Bossypants – Tina Fey

Trivia: Bossypants is an autobiographical comedy book written by American comedienne Tina Fey. The book topped The New York Times Best Seller list, and stayed there for five weeks upon its release. Since its release, the book has sold over one million copies in the U.S