Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.
Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want
Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill embodied the punk scene of the 90s, and today her personal yet feminist lyrics on anthems like "Rebel Girl" and "Double Dare Ya" are more powerful than ever. But where did this transformative voice come from?
In Rebel Girl, Hanna's raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumul-tuous childhood to her formative college years and her first shows. As Hanna makes clear, being in a punk "girl band" in those years was not a simple or safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightning rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.
But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her, including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman. And her friendships with musicians like Kurt Cobain, Ian MacKaye, Kim Gordon, and Joan Jett reminded her that, despite the odds, the punk world could still nurture and care for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her musical growth in her bands Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its exclusivity.
In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the hardest times along with the most joyful--and how they continue to fuel her revolutionary art and music.
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"Hanna's book is raw, honest, poetic, insightful, and often funny. Her political evolution is particularly gratifying...An impressively perspicacious memoir from one of feminism's most influential artists." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A fantastic journey into an unconventional life, pulsing with raw energy and vulnerability that I witnessed firsthand. It's honest, funny, witty, and smart. And most of all, it's important to the herstory of Kathleen's place in blazing new trails." -- Joan Jett
"Until I started reading this book, the idea of Kathleen Hanna seemed more real to me than the person. But with every word, Kathleen exposes the fleshy humanness of being a cult icon on a mission. While Rebel Girl is as defiant as the song that inspired its title, there's a counterweight of humility and openness that adds new perspective to the songs and stories of Kathleen's life. This book is something special." -- Hayley Williams
"A no-holds-barred account...Hanna's visceral prose captivates, and she's refreshingly candid about the riot grrrl movement's failures...It's a raw and revealing portrait of a vital figure in the feminist punk scene." -- Publishers Weekly
"Hanna holds nothing back in a debut that traces her chaotic childhood through to founding the riot grrrl punk feminist movement and her time in such bands as Viva Knievel and Le Tigre. Visceral prose is undergirded by clear-eyed insight into the flaws of early punk feminist activism--including its overwhelming whiteness--making this a memoir with depth and edge to spare." -- One of Publishers Weekly's Top 15 Summer Reads
"Hanna delivers a searing memoir in which the pioneering punk icon recalls her journey through music and activism...She makes the case for hope and resilience in the face of hardship--illustrated by...the lasting positive impact of her work." -- W Magazine, "The Best, Most Talked-About Books of 2024 (So Far)"
"A timely refresher on resilience, the power of protest art and the tender humanity that we must not lose. . . Like a comic book hero, Hanna has seemed to gather superhuman strength with every blow she receives. . . all while churning out ever more powerful and furious music. Rebel Girl unapologetically reveals the vul-nerability behind that image. . . [Hanna] reflects on her own failures and culpability, acknowledging them in a way that is refresh-ing and constructive. . . . Hanna intentionally busts open her feminist idol identity, liberating her-self from our perceptions and serving some hard-won wisdom." -- BookPage (starred review)
"Gripping." -- NYLON, selected for "The It Girl's Summer Reading List"
"A raucous, rousing tale about the power of music and activism...Hanna's story is a full-bodied portrait of a fighter and activist who has used music as a way to tackle adversity...A vivid, funny, and powerful memoir." -- Library Journal (starred review)
"Hanna offers short vignettes [that]...capture the life of a young woman trying to navigate a sexist culture while simultaneously finding her creative voice. There is an equal sense that Rebel Girl was written as a sort of road map for a new generation to pick up their own instruments and rock the world." -- Vogue, "The Best Books of 2024 So Far"
