Resistance by Tori Amos
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

272bPages
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 9781982104153

Non-Fiction, Political Activism, Biography, Memoir

The story begins in Georgetown as Tori is a young girl going from place to place with her father with the hopes of her playing the piano. She describes her rebellious teenage years and moves on to adulthood. She includes lyrics and the background story behind the words. There is a moving section where she describes being in New York City when the Towers came down and emotions felt by everyone there.

She goes on to discuss Dr. Ford and Brett Kavanaugh outcome. Many women across the country shared their views with her and reminded her that women are stronger when they work together towards a common goal. She talks about the political hate that has become obvious since the Trump election. She discusses her mother, Mary and her debilitating stroke and the hole in her life after Mary’s death.

I have followed Tori’s music since her Little Earthquakes album. Before reading this book, I was unaware of the creative block she had in the twenties. Her work as a feminist and political activist is inspiring. She has an easy to read writing style which I enjoyed. If you enjoy her music, are a feminist or political activist, I recommend this book.

It was interesting to read the inspiration behind some of Amos's songs, but the book did feel a bit disjointed at times. A fan is likely to enjoy this book a bit more, and I found it helped to read the lyrics and listen to the songs, in addition to reading along. The parts about her early piano bar days were some of my favorite parts.

In this memoir, Tori Amos shares the backstory on many of her songs, and how that all weaves together into her philosophy of art as resistance to the current political landscape. If you're a big Tori Amos fan, you'll love this book. If you were only marginally familiar with her work, it won't resonate. I read the first few chapters but did not finish since I consider myself in the second category of readers. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review.

There are certain life experiences that change you.

They penetrate their way into your bones and they seem to have a way of guiding your existence, quite often for the rest of your life.

In Tori Amos's own language, they become your muse.

I'm not sure that every human being has such a life experience, though I believe that's more because not every human being opens themselves up to such a life experience.

They're out there. Waiting.

I will always remember sitting front row inside the Vogue Nightclub in Indianapolis, an early-career Tori Amos sitting alone at her piano. "Little Earthquakes" had just come out.

I was early in my healing journey from sexual abuse as a child and a sexual assault as an adult, a young disabled adult male who had already outlived my life expectancy with spina bifida yet who was fumbling my way unsure and unclear and unable to communicate the immense darkness I felt inside. Tori Amos's "Silent All These Years" was already moving toward the charts, but I knew that the stark, remarkable "Me and a Gun" was a voice of defiance and resilience and I prayed to the God that I believed in that she would have the courage to sing this song so that I could see how she had the courage to share an experience I was struggling to share.

It was one of the few times in my life I've ever sat in the front row of a show. Being in a wheelchair, front rows are seldom an option but for whatever reason it became an option for this one night.

I'm 54-years-old now. I practically grew up with Tori Amos's artistry and activism and mind and heart by my side. If I were to make a short list of my top five concerts of all this time, this relatively small nightclub show would easily be on that list and Tori Amos's face when she sang the opening note of the A capella "Me and a Gun" would become a concert moment that would guide my own healing journey and my own ability to give voice to what I perceived to be the dark little voices inside my head that were desperately seeking permission to live and breathe and weep and laugh and become part of my existence.

I thought about that night at the Vogue quite often while reading "Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage," Amos's courageous and extraordinary literary journey that will unquestionably please most Amos fans and especially those Amos fans who tap into the intimate corners of Amos's musical journey and who click with her rhythmic vulnerabilities.

The truth is that I've never always quite "gotten" Amos. My slightly autistic mind tends to lean toward the concrete, my ability to receive abstract and mystical messages limited by a cognitive filter that gets clogged up by societal pollution.

But, I always get Amos's rhythm. I always get her presence. I remember sitting front row at the Vogue and being fully aware that even then Amos had a remarkable ability to read her audience, intuitively and courageously responding to their needs while also protectively honoring her own.

I don't know if Amos saw me that evening, though I instinctively believe she saw everyone. I didn't meet her. I didn't stay after the show. While she must've had a supporting band, truthfully I don't remember them at all.

I remember Tori Amos.

I remember the world that she created with her words and her music and her presence. I remember buying "Little Earthquakes" and every release to follow, something I've only ever done with one other artist (John Hiatt).

That world. Those worlds. They come to life in "Resistance." This book, which is structured in such a way that it feels like Tori Amos, simultaneously vulnerable and mystical and musical and poetic, is indeed a story of hope, change, and courage from Amos's early days of setting aside her first and only dismaying album "Y Kant Tori Read" to the courage of releasing music recounting life's most aching and vulnerable experiences to the strengthening of a woman who would become one of music's most passionate purveyors of politically intuitive yet socially insightful music.

If you don't "get" Tori Amos, "Resistance" is probably not the book that will make that happen. If you've never felt that rhythm and lost yourself in the world she creates then "Resistance" may likely feel like more Amos mumble jumble with mystical language that never creeps into your brain.

However, there's an exception.

If you're an artist who has struggled with finding your true voice artistically then "Resistance" may very well be a book that helps you get there. Amos practically puts a picture frame around each chapter with one of her lyrics, from the remarkable "Scarlet's Walk" to "Silent All These Years" to a host of others and then proceeds to weave those lyrics into her personal and professional journey.

At times, the lyrics seem obviously woven into the tapestry of her life. Other times, the muses have spoken and Amos's life has created this music that is needed by her, by her fans, and by the universe.

Amos paints beautifully the journey of becoming an artist of change and an artist of courage. She paints beautifully what it was like to be a teenager playing piano in a gay bar, watched over by the older gay men who would help shape her young musical voice. She paints beautifully the ways in which she listened and learned while playing in Washington D.C. for the early career power brokers who are now breaking the system and using it to their own advantage. She paints beautifully what it was like to be on the verge of an album release when 9/11 happened and shut everything down, yet she and her band opted to bring a musical voice to it all. She paints beautifully the way music and creativity can help heal loss and grief and can help bring us back to love.

Despite my connection to Tori Amos's music, the truth is it's always been more of an empowering connection than an emotionally resonant one. As intimately as "Little Earthquakes" worked its way into my life, it was never an album that brought me to tears and even as I sat in the Vogue Nightclub watching Amos perform it was more about my voice finding a path than it was any sort of cathartic experience.

I didn't expect to emotionally connect with "Resistance," but that's exactly what happened. It felt intimate and the tears flowed, surprisingly often, and I felt Amos's lyrics and her journey with remarkable clarity.

The truth is that while I've loved each of Amos's album in its own special way, I've never again connected with an Amos release like I did with "Little Earthquakes." It was the perfect album at the perfect time in my life. It became my musical Bukowski or my musical John Callahan, a unique voice that helped me give myself permission to my own life experiences from growing up with disability to sexual assault to my wife's death by suicide and my newborn daughter's death by my wife. It helped me make sense of life traumas and, perhaps more importantly, to use my creativity to take back my voice and to give myself love over and over and over again.

"Resistance" brings these things to life. "Resistance" gives voice to Amos's lyrics and to Amos's own artistic journey and her soulful and spirit-filled personal journey that was influenced in undeniable ways by her childhood yet became something even grander and more extraordinary.

If you require a cohesive narrative, "Resistance" doesn't necessarily offer it. If you're looking for a detailed, point-by-point explanation of her music "Resistance" doesn't offer it. In many ways, "Resistance" feels like what I've always imagined a coffeehouse conversation with Amos to be like - filled with fact and wonder, vulnerability and challenge.

It's weird, really.

It's been right about 30 years ago that Amos's "Little Earthquakes" helped me strip away the facade and get to the core of my artistry as a writer, a poet, an occasional actor, a passionate activist, and someone who believed that creativity could change the world. Since then, I've loved and lost and somehow still survived spina bifida. I've written one book with another on the way. I've produced books and CD's and DVD's and comedy and even two short films. I've traveled over 6,000 miles by wheelchair telling stories about hope, change, and courage.

Now, here we are again. My life has been changing as of late. I recently lost the rest of my left leg and declared the end to a 30-year journey with an event I started bringing voice to victims of violence because my body simply can't handle the demand anymore.

I just spent three months of my life healing from limb loss and searching for my artistic and activist voice once again.

"Resistance" comes into my life and with clarity and purpose and vulnerability and strength, Amos once again creates a work of wonder that influences me on a profound level and helps me once again remove the mask of inability and fear and to trust my own muses and the voice inside me that has never, not once, ever let me down.

"Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage" is currently available from Atria Books.

A welcome work of non fiction from a musician I’ve loved for nearly three decades. An explosive look into her life and thoughts that pull the curtain away from what was only partially revealed previously.

I started listening to Tori Amos with the release of her album <em>Little Earthquakes</em>. I have purchased or listened to all of her works since then. I wouldn't say that I'm a dedicated fan - I know (knew) nothing about Amos other than what I interpret in her songs. Her music, her songs, to me, show incredible artistry and intelligence (which is something I think is often lacking in modern music). When I saw that Tori Amos had a book coming out, a memoir, I was quick to get a copy, hopeful that Amos would be as articulate with her book as she is with her songs.

She is.

I have certainly noted a political charge in many of Tori's songs, but reading through this memoir and learning abut her 'start' - her early days in a piano bar in Washington, D.C. - I have a new appreciation of Tori's understanding and her observing of the political landscape. Much of the first portions of the book discuss these early days and as we get to know Tori through her recollection, we come to understand how aware she is of the machinations of politics. How does a young, artistic woman survive in this sort of setting? This is really fascinating and eye=opening.

But I think what I enjoyed even more in this book, is her discussion of art, artists, and surviving the creative process. Amos knows what it's like to sacrifice the art at the bidding of others. She also know that creating art is not inspiration, but lots of hard work (an awful lot of artists do not yet understand this concept). She mentions that she can probably name all of her songs that 'just came to her' on one hand.

And she talks about the jealousy of other artists - the jealousy we might have for a peer who has already 'found her voice' or his style, while we continue to struggle. Reading her thoughts on this is meaningful because we see that she understands - that she comes at this with first-hand experience.

I do think that you need to have an appreciation of Tori Amos the singer-songwriter to appreciate this book to its fullest, but the publisher refers to this book as having "compassionate guidance and actionable advice" which is very true and applicable to anyone, whether they are already familiar with Tori Amos or not.

Looking for a good book? Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage by Tori Amos is a motivational memoir sure to offer encouragement to young artists of all mediums.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I can see how hardcore Tori fans would love this but it did not work for me and I don't imagine it will have much crossover appeal.

Tori Amos has been a driving force in my life since I was a teen and continues to be today. It was an honor to be able to receive this book and be able to read it especially in this unique time in society; it's this convergence of politics, history, and change that resonates much more powerfully now than maybe even had this book come out 6 months ago. Tori is a phenomenal songwriter and she's just as phenomenal a writer with all the power of her thoughts and feelings relationships and observances in both her lyrics and the explanation of how those songs have come about. She is truly a unique voice and fans of her and fans of seeking history through song would really love this book as i did.

Is there an artist or album or song that takes you right back to a certain time in your life? For me - one of those albums is Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos. I hear it and immediately time travel to fall of 1997.

It’s really incredible the power that music has - to remind us of a time, to amplify or change our mood, to make important statements, to teach us to look at something differently.

I didn’t read much of the description of this book before starting it - just got excited about a new book by Tori Amos. I expected it to be like other songwriter books I’ve read - a memoir interspersed with some behind the scenes info on song lyrics.

This book has a bit of that - but really it’s more about ways artists can really use their art/music to amplify a political view. Amos covers a lot of heavy topics through the book - female genital mutilation (fgm), sexual assault, September 11th, the 2016 political election - but all through the lens of her music and art.

I learned that when touring - Tori Amos doesn’t have a set list she uses every night. She works to make each show appropriate to what’s going on in that location - and really works to learn what the issues are in that place.

I learned a lot from listening to this book and recommend it, especially if you are an artist or musician. Even if you aren’t (I’m not) - there is a lot to take away from this read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I like Tori Amos's music, but was hoping for more of a traditional memoir. Although I appreciated the insights into her lyrics, and some of the backstory on her family, politics has me weary and disillusioned. The writing is beautiful though, and hardcore Amos fans will really love this book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

I thought this was incredibly moving and beautiful. I love how she weaves her lyrics into her stories. This was really lovely.

Really enjoyed this! I have been a fan of Tori Amos since the nineties and have seen her in concert many times. She is such an amazing singer, pianist and song writer! The writing was great in my opinion and I loved the set up of the book. I really enjoyed the lyrics of a song before a chapter. This book covers not only her art but the struggles that she has overcome throughout her life, political themes, and advice and encouragement in today's world .

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. This review is not really fair. I was expecting this book to be a traditional autobiography, but instead, it's an autobiographical call to action. I admit I didn't finish it. It seems to be well-written, so if you're looking for a call to action from Tori Amos by all means, read this book!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was a Tori Amos fan probably close to 20 years ago. The music appealed to me when I was in college and my music tastes changed a bit and I didn’t listen to it as much.

This book was an interesting look at the inspiration for some of her songs. It was good to see what she has been doing for the last 20 years because I hadn’t really thought about her. This book has short chapters on activism, politics and later on dealing with her mother’s death.

Overall this was just okay for me as I’m not a huge fan and some of the writing was confusing to me.

I had the great pleasure of talking with Tori Amos during the Night of Hunters and Unrepentant Geraldines tours after being a fan since the early-to-mid 2000s. When this book was first announced, I did such a happy dance because I could listen to Amos tell stories forever. When I saw the eARC online, I knew I had to request it, despite being incredibly busy for the final semester of my grad program. I wasn't able to read this one as fast as I wanted to, but, man, am I so glad that I had this book to look forward to in the evenings.

One of the things I loved about this book is that Amos discusses the political context that inspired her art, but she is never prescriptive, trusting that the listener will make their own meaning of her work. This being said, I do think that Amos' book is intended for fans who have enjoyed her music over the years. A general audience may appreciate reading about Amos' creative process, but the long-term fans will be elated by some of the songs Amos discusses in this book (I was so happy to see one of my favorite girls, "Girl," getting some love).

All in all, I have to give this read five very subjective stars. This is everything I, an EWF, wanted from this book. If I was being more objective, I may give it four stars for a general audience, but few books have brought me this much joy in the past few years.

This book is a special, and at times very intense experience, mixing lyrics spanning Tori’s entire long career with a variety of musings, thoughts on art and creating, politics, pain, and world events, as well as dealing with the grief of losing both her mother and a dear friend very close together. I highly recommend queueing up each song and listening and reading along with the lyrics on the page. While it’s become somewhat popular in our internet and music streaming age for authors to include playlists with their books, here the music is truly and fully a part of the book. And you may find, I sure did, that the songs you’ve known by heart for years and even decades take on a new or different meaning. Tori writes of them continuing to do so even for her.

Ultimately this isn’t a long book and can be read quickly, but I recommend against that. Take your time with it. Personally, I found while I dove in head first, eventually I needed breaks, more of them as I went on, because there are a lot of heavy subjects within. Tori was approached with the idea to write this second book shortly after the election of President Trump, to write about the importance of art and artists as an integral part of the resistance. Even she did not realize what a challenging undertaking this would be and as a reader and an artist, a term that reading this book inspired me to reclaim for myself, I did not know just how much I needed this book or the sentiment behind it.

There’s something very powerful here, maybe especially NOW at the time it’s being released where we are not only jaded and struggling with the present political reality, but the pressures of a wild and rapidly changing world beyond what most of us ever could’ve imagined. Even pre-COVID 19 I think many of us were very tired, dejected, aching on a deep soul level. Tori writes poignantly about refusing to accept the idea of artistic barrenness and I think so many of us, regardless of the form or medium of our art, have been feeling or even falling into that trap of believing ourselves barren. In fact, right now, I am certain that feeling extends far beyond artists. We are feeling it as people, as parents, as friends, daughters and sons, as politically engaged citizens, etc.

I’m even tempted to change my rating the more I sit with this book and the thoughts and feelings it’s left me with. But I do want to mention, I think the book could’ve been slightly rearranged and the structure fine tuned a bit. While I’m okay with Tori’s musings not being in order, there are a few points where I feel a different order may have better served the narrative (and I found myself with a bit of whiplash to stray from a topic onto something totally different only to once again return to the first thing). The first third of the book, the song lyrics lead each chapter, then suddenly they’re at the end. After a point I actually completely lost track of which song went with which chapter. Another review suggests the order returned back to song and then chapter but that honestly wasn’t clear to me. Interesting enough though, once I got to that point I found it didn’t even matter. They worked very well and I almost felt like Tori found her groove more fully as well. So while the earlier part of the book feels more like a variety of separate chapters, for me at least, it all began to flow together and it was here that I began to gain so much more from reading.

I could regale you with tales of what Tori personally means to me, list off all the details of my years of being a fan but I think most of us who are going to read this one are all in the same boat. Similarly, I don’t want to summarize what exactly Tori writes about because I think this book is a journey, a unique one that so beautifully combines two of my dearest loves- music and reading- in a way I’ve never experienced before but gained a lot from. This is a book to experience, more than to tell about. And I think, some editing issues aside (that for all I know could be changed in the final edition, or not. I received my copy from Net Galley many months back because I knew I NEEDED this book. I’m glad though that I waited until now to read it because I think I needed it even more IR was more ready to receive it now), I think I’d call this a 4.5. And in some ways it defies rating altogether. I don’t know what it might mean or read like to someone who isn’t familiar with Tori, who isn’t drawn to her lyrics and music already, so there’s a lack of objectivity in that sense and I realize even the biggest fan may not have the kind of experience I did. But that is ultimately the true magic of art, isn’t it? We can all read/listen/view the same piece but walk away with something different and what I need or even want from a book or song may be vastly different from what you need or want.

Thank you to Atria Books and Net Galley, but most of all, thank you Tori- for giving me such a unique sort of mixed media experience and exceeding my expectations. This is a book I’m going to be thinking about for quite awhile and as I find various Tori songs stuck in my head, I find they’ve changed too or that I’m thinking about them more deeply than I have before. That is a gift.

“We must Out-Create destruction. It is the only way. Destruction can possess and it must be Out-Created by us. Together. We will climb out of the belly of the beast together.”

Tori Amos' Resistance is a powerful look at how the times impact artists. Sharing lyrics and behind the scenes stories and history about what was happening around the world and how various political lessons inspired the songwriter to create the works she did. From our own war on terrorism and understanding the minds of those working in and around the White House to international issues that Amos has taken an interest in in order to support the people in the cities she plays in. I was intrigued by how much Amos studies, reads, and interacts with her fans all over the world through reading their letters and curating each songlist set to be specific to them and what she feels they need.

I found Tori Amos' music as a teen and she's been a favorite artist since. This book was well written, inspiring to artists and activists alike, and a very poignant read for the current crisis we find ourselves in due to covid 19. My hope is that great art will help us to process and progress forward safely during this time.

I remember listening to Little Earthquakes in college on repeat. My friends and I were floored by the raw emotion and beauty in the lyrics and music. Since that first solo album in 1992, Tori Amos has continued to write and perform. Her music is deeply personal, but it also speaks to important issues of the day.

Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage includes the lyrics from many of Amos’s seminal works paired with reflections on how the songs came to be or how events of the world caused the song to be seen in a new way. The songs aren’t static but change depending on what happens in the world and what the audience needs. In the book, she discusses how her musical journey related to historical events such as the Iran Hostage Crisis, played out when she was a teenager playing at a Washington, DC, piano bar, the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky Scandal, the 9/11 tragedy, and the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, Amos shifts into a meditation on the impact of her mother’s death on her art and on the advice she would give to new musicians about being authentic and discovering their core message, especially in the face of pressure to commercialize or appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Personally, I probably would have been happier if the book had exclusively focused on the relationship of the music to activism. The transition between the sections was a little unexpected and jarring for me. I also thought that the narrative was at times too unfocused and stream-of-consciousness when I’d rather have a more direct approach.

However, fans of Tori Amos will certainly enjoy this book as will aspiring musicians and songwriters. As someone in the former category, I really enjoyed hearing about the genesis of some of the songs I’ve been listening to for so long and seeing how Amos reflected on the interplay between these songs and current events.

I'm familiar with Tori Amos' music, though I wouldn't call myself a fan. I wasn't familiar with most of the songs she references here. and I think the content would have resonated with me more if it had. This reads more like a collection of essays than a straight forward memoir. She goes back and forth in time, exploring the meanings of songs when she wrote them and then addressing how they are relevant today. Her writing is personal and honest. It made for an enjoyable read. I highly recommend it for her fans, and those who enjoy memoir/personal essay with timely social messages.

3.5

I do not read much non-fiction. By "much" I mean pretty much not at all. I've just always been more drawn into the fictional, often fantastical. The exception to this has always been Tori Amos. When her book [book:Tori Amos: Piece by Piece|536597] came out I was quick to grab it. She's always been a favorite artist of mine with her songs having such a layered mystery about them, I will always sit up and listen when it comes to hearing her process or, in her words, where the "Muses" take her in regards to crafting her songs. The deeper meaning that people can also relate to on a more surface level, and pick up new elements overtime is one she has always done really well. It's why her songs have endured.

When I heard about Resistance there was no question that I would read this book. I had initially imagined it to take a more political stance, and while those moments definitely appear and have their place, I felt like the overall tone of the book is addressing an artist's obligation to speak out or for those that cannot speak out for themselves. Whether it's political or societal it all kind of overlaps.

What always gets me when I think about Tori Amos is how long she's been doing what she's doing. I know she has a loyal following and is revered in the industry, but you don't hear about her as much as you do some of the more commercially successful artists. Nevertheless, though, I really liked hearing the stories about where she started out, where she came from, the battles she had to fight to get the message across that she wanted to tell despite dictates from the recording agency bigwigs.

The story doesn't necessarily follow a linear path as Amos goes back and forth between older and newer songs. I enjoyed how she would relate an older song, for example <i>Silent All These Years</i> to the time in which is was released and/or written, then turn around and talk about it's accessibility to today's climate. How a song can transcend it's original intent to take on new meaning.

Amos's writing feels, at times, eccentric, but anyone who is a true fan knows that's exactly all Tori. Often speaking on more of a theoretical level at times giving us full conversational exchanges she's had with her Muses or loved ones who have passed. But it's very easy to see where she's coming from, and like many of her songs, find your own way to relate to the issues.

I kind of wish there was just a little bit more cohesiveness, just to hold the over arching message together a bit better. The going back and forth from past to present, while interesting, brought me out of the narrative quite a few times. When she picks up again in the present time, I would constantly have to remind myself where we left off before we delved back into the past.

Otherwise, Resistance is an interesting look at a unique and trail-blazing artist, giving insights into fan favorite songs and speaking to the idea of art as a vehicle for change.