Kim Gordon

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids. Often described as aloof, Kim Gordon opens up as never before in Girl in a Band. Telling the story of her family, growing up in California in the '60s and '70s, her life in visual art, her move to New York City, the men in her life, her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, her music, and her band, Girl in a Band is a rich and beautifully written memoir. Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music. The band helped build a vocabulary of music—paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines the route from girl to woman in uncharted territory, music, art career, what partnership means—and what happens when that identity dissolves. Evocative and edgy, filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a transformative life, Girl in a Band is the fascinating chronicle of a remarkable journey and an extraordinary artist.

A Memoir

Girl in a Band

eileen sheats

before I started this book, I tried to get into sonic youth, & it just wasn’t for me. the book itself wasn’t for me either, & I should have figured that out when the music didn’t hit, but that’s on me.

like all writing, a good memoir is all about storytelling. other memoirs i’ve read have managed to tell compelling stories without the use of constant name dropping - which I understand is necessary to a certain point - but in this particular book it’s egregious, falling victim to the classic NY/LA trope of mentioning someone several degrees of separation from you just because you can. unlike most reviewers, I actually enjoyed the parts about the affair the most, because it was the juiciest & provided a crumb of plot in a book that got off to a good start but was ultimately meandering. 

I think at the end of the day, I just wouldn’t be friends with kim gordon, & I think she has bad takes. I don’t believe that she wanted to be a girl in a band, she wanted to be every kind of artist except for a musician. that’s what I got out of reading her story. the only time she spoke positively about music or her love for it was when she was talking about how it served as a conduit for her to participate in relations between men. like many women, she got famous because she dated the right guy at the right time, & like many women, it ended poorly for her. for all the shit she talks about lana, at least she used men to connect to her art, rather than using art to connect with men.

there are a lot of other memoirs out there written by female artists that you could read instead

Wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this as someone who has never actively listened to Sonic Youth, but it’s a solid memoir. Raw and honest, full of accomplishments and hurt, a throughline of heartbreak and never being allowed to forgot you’re a woman, published at the dawn of her sixties.

The narrative jumps through years to tell stories like the flow of a natural conversation rather than a linear timeline.

Lots of NYC art scene namedrops and some 2nd-wave-feminist-y hater energy… but if I contributed to The Culture what Gordon did, I’d have room for a lil pretentiousness, too.

Least expected learning: Her dad literally invented the terms “jock” and “prep” in a 184-page University of Michigan research paper?!?

Looking forward to properly listening to her stuff and looking up X-Girl archives.

skully

Wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this as someone who has never actively listened to Sonic Youth, but it’s a solid memoir. Raw and honest, full of accomplishments and hurt, a throughline of heartbreak and never being allowed to forgot you’re a woman, published at the dawn of her sixties.

The narrative jumps through years to tell stories like the flow of a natural conversation rather than a linear timeline.

Lots of NYC art scene namedrops and some 2nd-wave-feminist-y hater energy… but if I contributed to The Culture what Gordon did, I’d have room for a lil pretentiousness, too.

Least expected learning: Her dad literally invented the terms “jock” and “prep” in a 184-page University of Michigan research paper?!?

Looking forward to properly listening to her stuff and looking up X-Girl archives.

It’s funny, I didn’t finish this the first time I tried to when it was initially published. This time around I couldn’t get enough of it. 

Harriette

man! i love reading abt ladies in rock! the chapters abt sonic youth and the history behind some of their discography were pretty interesting but kim dissed a helluva a lot of people for truly no good reason? (leave lana out of it?!) anyway… could’ve done without the first half being dedicated almost entirely to her various love interests? i didn’t mind the bits about her family tho, her dad seemed sweet

༺ kat ༻

Jeannette Ordas

A great quick read. I had read the introduction in an online magazine and I found it really honest and raw about her breakup with Thurston Moore. This memoir delves into her early life with her family and she mentions a lot about her relationship with her older mentally unstable brother, but I found that part a bit incomplete like I had accidentally skipped over something. I loved reading about her early teen life in California and what her life was like in the 80s art world of NYC. She has a knack for being at the right place at the right time and meeting so many interesting and influential people. The Sonic Youth years were interesting but the book started to fade out at the end.

Kim forever. I will have deeper thoughts when I'm no longer sick. A great read for any artist or lady or anyone really. Also, Thurston Moore is a knob. Is that a spoiler? Probably not.

Cici Harrison

I loved all of the history of the music scene and the city I've grown up in (NYC), and Kim seems like an incredibly intelligent, sensitive, wise person. It was really intriguing to visit her world, very different than the average person's, but to find that she is actually very relatable. She has a very strong voice and view and makes the reader feel like they have truly gotten to know her and her struggles. I particularly enjoyed reading about her close bond with Kurt Cobain. 

 It was a bit all over the place at times, jumping from one direction to another, but definitely worth a read if you love any of the many stuff she has accomplished. She is an inspiration to many of us artists/musicians

Steven Ovadia

Someone wrote "Thurston Moore is an asshole" on the bottom of one of the pages of the book. It could very well be a subtitle as a lot of it is devoted to her unfortunate breakup. That part is pretty tough to read. It's searingly honest and raw. The rest of the book is OK. She doesn't go that deep into the band and her music. The book can be breezy and conversational in an unsatisfying way. But it does provide some interesting insights into the challenges of being a woman in the male-dominated "indie" world.

Girl in a Band A Memoir

Reviews