Violence girl

Awesome and rare perspective from a Chicana punk rocker from the original days of LA punk. I loved reading about her childhood and home life and her other interests besides music (i.e. teaching, religion & philosophy). I thought the writing could have been more sophisticated, but appreciate the fact that Alice Bag, who does not consider herself to be a writer, wrote a book anyway, in the true spirit of punk rock.

A punk rock coming of age story. It was interesting to hear about how Bag got involved in music and it reminded me of a lot of the people I grew up around. But by far the best part of the book is her relationship with her father. We are so accustomed to categorizing someone as either hero or villain. It's rare to get a portrait of someone who was both. It is hard to imagine from the outside why people stay with abusers or how anyone can let go of it. People are complicated. And circumstances - like poverty - have a huge impact on behavior. Even people who do the most awful things are human and capable of doing beautiful things. That part of the book really stands on its own.