The Girl in the Back

May 15, 2018

Davis-Chanin's account of her days as a drummer with the punk rock band The Student Teachers starts with a group of close friends in high school and is told with incredible honesty. Drumming is not her primary passion, but she moves along with her friends in the formation and promotion of the band. She reveals a difficult family life as well as the thrills and disappointments of the small club scene in late Seventies New York City. Bands forming, merging, and ending, late-night parties and drugs, and more drugs. Musicians of near-mythical proportion (David Bowie, Iggy Pop, members of Blondie) enter the author's life at the young age of 16. Most fascinating throughout is Davis-Chanin's candidness about herself and what she sees. Facing a serious medical issue in her late teens, she's forced to make important decisions, and the story she tells about facing down these issues and whether the music and the drugs are her future, make this a page-turner. VERDICT A compelling memoir of the early punk rock scene for fans of daring and personal journeys.--Amy Lewontin, Northeastern Univ. Lib., Boston

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