In 1985, Kristin Hersh was just beginning to find her place in the world. After beginning her music career at the age of fourteen, the precocious child of unconventional hippies was enrolled in college while her band, Throwing Muses, was getting off the ground, amid buzzing rumors of a major label deal. Then, everything changed. Her emotional troubles were diagnosed as bipolar disorder, and - just after the band was signed - Hersh was processing news of a very different sort: she was pregnant. Suddenly, she found herself wondering whether antidepressants could be mixed with prenatal vitamins, how to balance a guitar on her swollen stomach, and whether a rock band could tour with an infant. Written in beautifully evocative prose, and filled with unforgettable characters, Rat Girl is the story of one pivotal year in Hersh's extraordinary life, a year that taught her strength and forced her to grow up much faster than she'd planned.