She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll (1992)

She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll gets off to a shaky start, with a subliterate preface by Yoko Ono and a muddled introduction by the author, but quickly flowers into a smart and lively celebration of its subject. A Seattle journalist, Gillian Gaar chronicles rebel rockers from Big Mama Thornton to Bikini Kill, along with female engineers and record executives. Though she shortchanges rap and makes some odd inclusions (performance artist Karen Finley, for example), Gaar brings feminist savvy to her study, and that in itself is a milestone in rock history. B+