A review by andintothetrees
Paradoxical Undressing by Kristin Hersh

5.0

Paradoxical Undressing was originally published in the USA as Rat Girl: A Memoir but has been given a new (and I think better) title and cover for its British release. In case you didn’t know, Kristin Hersh is a musician, best known for her work as vocalist and guitarist for the band Throwing Muses. They are not an easy band to slip into a genre (which, by the way, is a good thing) but the book’s jacket refers to them as ” art punk” and Kristin says in its pages that they are labelled alternative (which she thinks is meaningless – alternative to what?), so that hopefully gives you some idea (or you could just check them out on youtube). I had only heard a few isolated songs by the band before, mostly on mixes made by friends, but Paradoxical Undressing (named after the phenomena whereby people dying of hypothermia rip off their clothes, believing that they are burning hot) inspired me to give it the full headphones treatment. Even if you’ve never heard of Kristin or her band before there would be much to enjoy here – I’m by no means alone in finding the process of starting out in, and the behind-the-scenes-of, the music business fascinating; and this is also a mental health memoir as it transpires that Kristin’s songs come to her whilst she is in states of psychosis. Her experience of this mental health condition, and her inner struggles between medicating herself and being ostensibly ”better”, but also slower and less creative, form a major part of the book and will be familiar to anyone who has experienced a mental health condition that has made them feel more creative, and/or made them wonder what is “illness” and what is their personality. Kristin also finds herself unexpectedly pregnant as her band are gathering momentum and notoriety, and her handling of this situation is integral to the book.

...[For my full review, please go to my blog]