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Book Review
Jun. 3rd, 2020 09:14 pmGirls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution
by Sara Marcus
This engaging book covers both the punk bands and the grass-roots feminism that formed the riot grrl movement of the 1990s. Marcus combines personal stories of several musicians and participants with a a history of riot grrl, and adds sparing but perceptive analysis of events. Her writing is excellent and really brought that time alive again for me. While I am of the right age, unfortunately, riot grrl never quite made it to my sheltered ultra-middle-class Connecticut suburb, although I did hear some of the music on the local college radio station. I wish it had; everything would have been different for me.
While I really loved all the material on Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and the other riot grrl bands, I was quite fascinated by all the zine-making and distributing activity. I need to find out if any of the zine archives at various libraries hold any of the riot grrl materials, and if they've been digitized. I also liked that Marcus was pretty honest in addressing the riot grrl movement's failings and flaws.
by Sara Marcus
This engaging book covers both the punk bands and the grass-roots feminism that formed the riot grrl movement of the 1990s. Marcus combines personal stories of several musicians and participants with a a history of riot grrl, and adds sparing but perceptive analysis of events. Her writing is excellent and really brought that time alive again for me. While I am of the right age, unfortunately, riot grrl never quite made it to my sheltered ultra-middle-class Connecticut suburb, although I did hear some of the music on the local college radio station. I wish it had; everything would have been different for me.
While I really loved all the material on Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and the other riot grrl bands, I was quite fascinated by all the zine-making and distributing activity. I need to find out if any of the zine archives at various libraries hold any of the riot grrl materials, and if they've been digitized. I also liked that Marcus was pretty honest in addressing the riot grrl movement's failings and flaws.
