Raucous. Riotous. Resplendent.

The difference between autobiography and memoir is larger than most people might recognize, and it primarily comes down to perspective. With both of them, you’re sharing people the story of your life, but with the former, it’s a cut-and-dry retelling, while the latter can be a bit freer and much more emotional. You can’t lie in your memoir, but you can blur the details just a bit – typically to disguise people’s identity and often as a means of summary so that the minutiae don’t drag down everything. Some writers even use creative narration, nonlinear timelines, and composite characters instead of talking about every single person they met in life. But what it really means is that you don’t want to write your own Wikipedia entry: You want to tell a good story.

Which is exactly what Kathleen Hanna delivers with Rebel Girl.

Subtitled “My Life as a Feminist Punk,” the iconic leader of the groundbreaking bands Bikini Kill, the Julie Ruin, and Le Tigre crafts a warts-and-all retelling of her life. Overflowing with power, tears, success, and heartbreak, she refuses to shy away from the hard lessons, the tough scenarios, or ugly elements. However, while could have been a book filled with a bleak batch of “woe-is-me” paeans, it actually comes across as a lifelong search for beauty, purpose, and meaning – for herself and others.

Hanna walks this tightrope acts by being entirely self-effacing and self-aware of her own role in the story. While she neither wallows in self-pity nor embarks on a scorched earth bender, she also doesn’t shy away from harsh truths or painful memories. More importantly, she talks about her artistic struggles, victories, and everything in between with remarkable warmth and passion. From her music, photography, and art to Riot Grrrl, friendships, failures, and everything in between, she’s proud of her story (even if she’s not always proud of everything she did along the way).