The definitive account of the radical feminist punks and their music: “Exhilarating. . . . The well-documented history Riot Grrrl deserves.” —Los Angeles Times
Girls to the Front is the epic, definitive history of the Riot Grrrl movement—the radical feminist punk uprising that exploded into the public eye in the 1990s, altering America’s gender landscape forever. Sara Marcus interweaves research, interviews, and her own memories as a Riot Grrrl front-liner in a passionate, sophisticated narrative that brilliantly conveys the story of punk bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Heavens to Betsy—as well as successors like Sleater-Kinney, Partyline, and Kathleen Hanna’s Le Tigre—and their effect on today’s culture.
“Compelling . . . Marcus has done a commendable job of telling the little-known history of an important social and cultural movement.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A fascinating social history. . . .Marcus focuses on the girls in the crowd as much as stars like Bikini Kill.” —Rolling Stone
“A brash, gutsy chronicle . . . captures the combustible excitement of this significant if short-lived moment.” —Publishers Weekly
“Not only a historical rockument of the revolutionary ’90s counterculture Riot Grrrl movement . . . but also a rousing inspiration for a new generation of empowered rebel girls to strap on guitars and stick it to The Man.”—Vanity Fair
“Girls to the Front is not just a keeper of the flame but brings you to yr own fire.” —Kim Gordon
Sara Marcus is a write and musician living in Brooklyn, New York. Her prose and poetry have appeared in publications including Slate, Time Out New York, The Advocate, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Heeb, where she was the politics editor for five years. Marcus received an MFA from Columbia University.
What People are Saying About This
Johanna Fateman
“Ambitious and convincing. . . . Girls to the Front makes narrative sense out of events that had so far been recorded only in mythic, unverified, and fragmentary form.”
Kim Gordon
“Feminism seems to change every five years. It’s hard to grasp the movement. . . . Girls to the Front is not just a keeper of the flame but brings you to yr own fire.”
Vivian Gornick
“For a Second Wave feminist like myself, Girls to the Front evokes wonderfully the way the generation after mine soaked up the promise and the punishment of feminist consciousness: all in all, a richly moving story.”
Brenda Wineapple
“Original, witty, idealistic and down-to-earth, Girls to the Front is a chronicle of women, girls, music, sexism—and, best of all, what it means to be alive. Reader take heart: Feminism is not dead.”
Eileen Myles
“Sara Marcus’s Girls to the Front is a great & true & real history. Thank God. At last.”
Allison Wolfe
“A painstakingly researched and well thought-out tribute to a punk feminist era Sara Marcus clearly holds dear. . . . It should be heralded as an uncannily insightful revelation of the motivations and inner-workings of Riot Grrrl.”
While we sing about getting him back with Olivia Rodrigo, stomp our feet to the beat of our favorite Billie Eilish songs (have you seen her Rolling Stone cover!) and head-bang along to songs from Paramore, we decided to take a beat and recognize some of the women who paved the way. Born out of […]