Tori Amos

Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage from Tori Amos is both a deeply personal book as well as a political (in the broad sense) book.

I remember vividly the first two times I saw her perform. I say two because they were about two weeks apart so they kind of blend together for me. 1992, small venues in New Orleans and Baton Rouge (I was at LSU at the time). My birthday is September 26 and the first show was in early September as I recall and a friend took me as a gift show more because she knew I really liked Little Earthquakes. So a couple weeks later when she was in Baton Rouge I made a point of going again. Blown away both times and because of the venue size she was able to meet some of the fans, so that was great as well. But to be honest, to be sitting anywhere near the front feels like she is singing directly to you at times. So, yes, this review is written from a fan's perspective. Even after eleven shows I still get excited to think about seeing her again.

This book uses her songs and lyrics coupled with both her life experiences and society's issues to demonstrate that the personal is absolutely political. What I found appealing was how she did not try to make each section into some grand cultural statement, though some certainly made such statements. But when something was far more personal than societal that was the direction she took. Ultimately, all of the personal, from DC clubs to the passing of her mother, helps to create the person she is, which is someone with an eye on the big picture and cultural topics.

One of the many wonderful things about her songs is that they are not always simple and straightforward as far as what they are about. Between multiple listenings and interviews, most fans learn what she is referencing and singing about. But for most of us we also connect through our own avenue into each song. And it is not hard to maintain both perspectives, her initial intent and our initial reception, while each deepens with repeated listening. This book highlights, I think, just that quality. She explains what she was thinking when she was writing it, and often how she views that song now. Those are not always identical in the same way that she is no longer the same person she was. This opens each song up for us to both better understand her and her songs, but also to feel that we are "allowed" to read what we need to read into those songs.

The writing is almost conversational, which works very well in this case. This is less a single narrative than it is the reader sitting down and having a meandering conversation that, while headed in a general direction, takes some detours and side trips. Fans will certainly enjoy this feeling, and I think most other readers will enjoy it as well. If you prefer a rather traditional linear memoir, this might not suit you quite as much. Though I will say that I think you'll still like the book, you'll just wish it had been more like what everyone else does. For those of us who like Amos' music, it is precisely because she isn't like everyone else, so we will like this approach.

The political statements are here, but if you don't want to feel like you're being hit over the head with it you won't, it is not heavy-handed. In fact, it all flows from song to life experience to lessons learned to those lessons applied to others. I understand that Tori also reads for the audiobook version, which I think will be phenomenal.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

4 and a half stars. this is as amazing as the perfect cover promises. lyrics from each song from Tori Amos' 1992 album Little Earthquakes followed by a multi-page graphic art collaboration interpreting the song - sometimes literally using the lyric as text, sometimes developing a possible backstory for the lyrics, and sometimes riffing off the images, ideas, and sheer weight of the song. a labour of love and a perfect tribute to her seminal work from the vantage point of thirty years later. show more includes contributions from Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Bill Sienkiewitz, David Mack, Kelly DeConnick, and many many others. show less

I've been a Tori Amos fan since the mid-1990s, so this was a pleasure to listen to. Fans know that Tori has a special talent for storytelling in her songs; it was cool to hear that translated in book form. You have to approach this book as if it were an album. It jumps around in space and time but has an overarching theme that connects everything. Part autobiography, part social history, and part songwriter manifesto, this book was definitely an inspiration to me as an artist. Highly show more recommended for Tori fans as well as anyone who identifies as a creative artist. I'm not sure if the average reader who doesn't fall into these categories would get as much out of this book. For me, it has reignited a flame of approaching art as a form of resistance! show less

Piece by Piece is the autobiography of singer/songwriter Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos) and is subtitles "A portrait of the artist. Her thoughts. Her conversations." And it really is. A wonderful insight into Tori Amos as a musician, a mother, a lioness and a spiritual follower of her own path. Separated into conversations between Tori and Ann, Tori's own observations adn writings, Ann's comments, passages from interviews with those close to Tori including her husband and song canvases, I show more couldn't put this down from the first sentence.

There are eight main chapters names after goddesses or archetypes (Tori is a fan of mythology expert Joseph Campbell and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung) wich cover Tori's opinions and experiences including motherhood, her image, the trouble she had with her first record comapny (Atlantic Records), her failed project Y Kant Tori Read, three devestating miscarriages, her relationship with christianity and the two Mary's (the Mother and the Magdalene). From her Cherokee grandfather Tori has found her love of spirituality rather than a dogmatic religion and performs ceremonies before going on stage with her close friends, family and crew (pretty much all the same thing). The tale she weaves is intelligent referencing many mythologies and folktales whilst being intimatly personal when she speaks of her daughter and failed pregnancies. Weaving stories behind her songs and what they mean to her amid the narrative, it really feels like you are talking to Tori and she is present in the room with you.

It gives an amazing insight into her creative process. This includes how she writes her songs (song Beings), gets her inspiration from basically everywhere and everyone around her, pieces sections of fragments of music and lyrics together and pieces together her image. It was written just before The Beekeeper was released and it was interesting to read of the symbolism of the bee and the six sides to Tori. This is simply a MUST for all fans of her music and what she stands for.

A little about my journey with Tori so far. I first heard Cornflake Girl when it was in the charts and then promptly forgot about her. The same with Professional Widow (the remix). It wasn't until I was around 15 that I went to an unconventional party that I really discovered her music on a deeper level. The party was the first birthday party for STEPS. STEPS was a group in Liverpool for woman who self harm and it was the first time I had plucked up the courage to attend one of their meetings. There I met some great people and started the long road to not being ashamed of mt ways of coping. At the party one lady did a modern dance interpretation to Tori's song "Hotel" from the album "From the Choirgirl Hotel" and it still is my favourite of her songs. It was so poignant with the ending "I'm still alive" repeated and I adore it when she plays it live. I have seen her live four times now and the third time I was lucky enough to be one of 200 people at an intimate gig in a theatre in London where she was interviewed by Ann Powers for part of this book. They sat on stage and chatted with Tori playing two sets of four songs inbetween. Amazing. show less