Author Guide · Music Memoir
Books Written by
Before most viewers knew her as half of the sketch show Portlandia, Carrie Brownstein was the guitarist and co-singer of Sleater-Kinney, the band she formed in Olympia, Washington, in the mid-1990s with Corin Tucker. Her memoir starts there, in the music, not on television: a girl from the Seattle suburbs who found in records and live shows a way through a difficult adolescence, and then built a life on stage. This guide covers her 2 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 2 key books · 2012–2015 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Carrie Brownstein has written one memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015), about growing up in Redmond, Washington, and her years in Sleater-Kinney, and co-written one humour book, Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors (2012), with Fred Armisen. Start with the memoir; it is the book that explains the musician behind the comedy.
Where to Start with Carrie Brownstein
If you want her own story
→ Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015) — family, the Olympia music scene and Sleater-Kinney.
If you know her from the TV show
→ Portlandia (2012) — the Portlandia tie-in.
2 Carrie Brownstein Books, in Order
Portlandia
A mock travel guide to Portland, Oregon, written with her Portlandia co-star Fred Armisen. It extends the sketch series, which ran on IFC from 2011 to 2018, into book form.
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Brownstein’s memoir of growing up in Redmond, Washington, in a family that came apart when her parents divorced in her teens, and of the music that gave her somewhere to go. Most of the book follows Sleater-Kinney, from the Olympia scene of the 1990s to the band’s hiatus in 2006. The title comes from the band’s song “Modern Girl”.
In What Order to Read Carrie Brownstein
There are only two books and they do not depend on each other. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is the substantial one: a full memoir about family, fandom and life in a band.
Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors is a comic tie-in to the sketch show, best read by people who already know its characters.
A reading path
1. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015)
2. Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors (2012)
The years · 1974–2015
Quick facts about Carrie Brownstein
- Known for
- Carrie Brownstein is known as the guitarist and singer of Sleater-Kinney and as co-creator and co-star of the sketch comedy series Portlandia.
- 1974
- Born in Seattle, Washington
- 1994
- Sleater-Kinney record their first album
- 2006
- Sleater-Kinney go on hiatus
- Born
- 27 September 1974, Seattle, Washington; grew up in Redmond
- Band
- Sleater-Kinney, guitarist and singer, formed with Corin Tucker in Olympia in the 1990s
- Television
- Co-star of Portlandia (IFC, 2011–2018) with Fred Armisen; co-created with Armisen and Jonathan Krisel
- Memoir
- Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, 2015
The red mark is 2015: Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, her memoir.
How Carrie Brownstein Writes
Brownstein wrote about music before she wrote a memoir, including the blog Monitor Mix for NPR Music (2007–2010), and the memoir reads like the work of a critic as well as a player: she explains why particular records and shows mattered to her as a fan, not only what happened to the band.
The book is frank about her family and her parents’ divorce, but it keeps the focus on how those years shaped her need to perform. Sleater-Kinney’s story is told from inside the van and the rehearsal room, including the pressures that led to the 2006 hiatus.
The memoir is about music rather than television, which makes it a book about a musician, and it sits well next to other musicians’ memoirs such as Patti Smith’s Just Kids.
Watch
Carrie Brownstein on Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Carrie Brownstein talks with Lavinia Greenlaw at the London Review Bookshop in 2015 about Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl.
Frequently asked questions about Carrie Brownstein’s books
How many books has Carrie Brownstein written?
Two: the memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015) and the humour book Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors (2012), co-written with Fred Armisen.
What are Carrie Brownstein’s books in order?
Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors (2012), then Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015).
Where should I start with Carrie Brownstein?
With Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. It is her only memoir and the fuller of the two books.
What is Carrie Brownstein’s most famous book?
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (2015), her memoir of family and Sleater-Kinney.
Is Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl about Portlandia?
Mostly not. The memoir is about her childhood and her years in Sleater-Kinney.
Where does the title Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl come from?
From “Modern Girl”, a Sleater-Kinney song.
Did Carrie Brownstein write the memoir herself?
Yes. No co-writer is credited.
Is Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl worth reading if you’re not a Sleater-Kinney fan?
It is written for readers who do not know the band: much of it is about family, being a fan and what it takes to keep a band together, which carries beyond Sleater-Kinney’s own records.
Footnotes
- Carrie Brownstein — Wikipedia
- ‘Modern Girl’ Carrie Brownstein describes finding (and hiding) herself in music — NPR, 2015
- Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors — Hachette Book Group
- Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl review — Flavorwire, 2015
- Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl review — The Boston Globe, 2015
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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