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FOREWORD BY AUDREY GOLDEN, AUTHOR OF I THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SPEAK
Hit So Hard is a memoir of renewal and hope; a window onto the 90s Seattle grunge scene, and a testament to the enduring power of the music Patty helped create as drummer in Hole with Courtney Love. With a brand new introduction by Audrey Golden to cast a new light on the book today, and published for the first time in the UK as part of White Rabbit’s Deep Cuts series, Hit So Hard documents her life in the band, battle with addiction and descent into homelessness on the streets of LA; and her rewarding path to sobriety and happiness.
‘Though Hit So Hard is ultimately a deeply personal story, it’s also the story of one of the most successful bands of the ’90s: Hole…Schemel describes her years with the band with the same unflinching honesty and eye for telling detail that she brings to all parts of her life’ LA Weekly
‘Not a book one should approach lightly or ‘just’ for the behind the scenes tales. If you want them, you’ll certainly get them, but they’re not why you should read…[Schemel’s] voice is an engaging one throughout, honest but not tendentious, often vivid in her sense of exact detail’
The Quietus
Hit So Hard is a memoir of renewal and hope; a window onto the 90s Seattle grunge scene, and a testament to the enduring power of the music Patty helped create as drummer in Hole with Courtney Love. With a brand new introduction by Audrey Golden to cast a new light on the book today, and published for the first time in the UK as part of White Rabbit’s Deep Cuts series, Hit So Hard documents her life in the band, battle with addiction and descent into homelessness on the streets of LA; and her rewarding path to sobriety and happiness.
‘Though Hit So Hard is ultimately a deeply personal story, it’s also the story of one of the most successful bands of the ’90s: Hole…Schemel describes her years with the band with the same unflinching honesty and eye for telling detail that she brings to all parts of her life’ LA Weekly
‘Not a book one should approach lightly or ‘just’ for the behind the scenes tales. If you want them, you’ll certainly get them, but they’re not why you should read…[Schemel’s] voice is an engaging one throughout, honest but not tendentious, often vivid in her sense of exact detail’
The Quietus
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Reviews
A smart, clear-eyed look back at the 1990s alt-rock scene...[Schemel] writes with humour and insight
Schemel's story is one of dramatic extremes, navigating the world as a queer woman from a family of recovering alcoholics
Hit So Hard is the story of Patty's life yes, and the journey into her addiction and her way out of it, yes, but it's also the story of survival-of being a daughter to divorced parents, of being gay, of being in a seminal band and then not being in it. It's a look from the inside of the Seattle rock scene in the early 90s
An engrossing read which offers an inside glimpse into the world of addiction and the horrific effects it has not only on the addict but on all those around them
[Schemel] was one of the first female drummers to make it onto a major label...Hit So Hard offers a woman's view of a tumultuous era. It's an often harrowing but ultimately triumphant story, and Schemel tells it unflinchingly.
Revisit the '90s as Schemel recounts the rise and rise of her band, as well as the devastating effects of her drug and alcohol addictions...[and] the music that taught her 'how to feel so much it hurt.
Frank reflections on how being in a band fuels addiction
Schemel gives readers an intimate look into her experience as a member of Hole, one of the most iconic bands of the 90s
An intimate, brazen account of [Schemel's] battle with drugs and alcohol, as well as the volatile years she spent drumming for one of the 1990s' most infamous rock bands-and she spared none of the harrowing details
Patty Schemel is a woman who survives to fight and fought to survive, and her memoir is a recommended read for anyone that's ever felt just that little bit different
Readers will find themselves transfixed by Schemel's tales of life as an addict, but also a working musician during one of the industry's most tumultuous yet exciting times
An amazing story, an amazing book
Hit So Hard is one of the most honest-but moreover, one of the most useful-addiction memoirs in recent history...There simply aren't that many books like this
Explores her struggles with addiction, her departure from Hole, being homeless in LA, and her inspiring road to recovery...Schemel's memoir is as jaw-dropping as it is heart-breaking
Schemel writes about life in the limelight and in the shadows with the kind of biting honesty that comes with surviving a period in rock history with an exceptionally high body count...While Hit So Hard is predominantly a story about recovery, it is also a rock memoir, and Schemel is an excellent storyteller.
Deeply personal... unflinching honesty and an eye for detail
[A] heartbreaking memoir...Schemel's recounting is bluntly terrifying and provides invaluable insight into the ravages of addiction-and just as importantly, the possibility of recovery...A must-read for any grunge fan.
Readers for the first time get the behind the scenes, first-hand account of what made Hole such a great/dysfunctional band...The book is a roller-coaster ride of angst and self-reflection.
An unflinching look at her life and the role drug and alcohol addiction played in it...Hard to read at times, Schemel's staunchly frank examination of her life, the good and bad...is a fascinating read
Schemel's voice is engaging... honest but not tendentious, often vivid in her sense of exact detail
[In] Hit So Hard, [Schemel is] a de facto historian of 1990s Seattle, a notably visible gay female musician, and a clear-eyed observer of the hell she's been through
[Schemel's] book is the very definition of a cautionary tale...[It] not only affirms [her] as a musician, it also speaks to the healing power of a creative life
A harrowing account of [Schemel's] rise, fall and ultimate redemption...A cautionary tale, to be sure. But it's one that Schemel relates with a forthright lack of self-pity, even leavening some of the darker moments with humour
As much a memoir as it is both a cautionary tale and a work designed to help lift the stigma of being an addict...Engaging and unflinchingly honest...It's also an account of being in a famous band and working in the music business, as well as what Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were like in private
Understated and affecting anecdotes...make up the brunt of Patty's new memoir, Hit So Hard
A candid story of a life in rock...Schemel writes with wit and easy humour
