Tori Amos: Piece by Piece

Just as Tori's music is very original, so too is this autobiography. Although she does include details about her personal life and her more public life as an artist, this biography also looks at how her creative process works. How does she get the ideas for her songs, and once this has happened, how does she do the music? This really is a look at what it can mean to be a woman in the music industry. Like many women, Tori is at once a daughter, mother, wife and career woman - how does she cope with all these different aspects of her life, and how has motherhood changed her perspective, if at all?To attempt to answer such questions, Tori does look at her childhood and the beginning of her career. Along with Tori's own thoughts and reflections, the book also has insights from people close to her - her husband, members of her band, and Ann Powers, a music journalist, also includes her own thoughts.One of the most interesting chapters for me was chapter 2, "Mary Magdalene: The Erotic Muse". In this chapter she includes a few lines of a song she never released:"I have 50 hearts, they're all in 50 different drawersWhen you come calling I always put the purple one onIf I dumped all 50 out on the living room floorwould you say clean up the mess before I get home?"This particularly struck me as I often feel that as a woman I sometimes have to hide all the different aspects of my personality in order to please others. The chapter as a whole really made me think about what she was trying to get across, and I have never been a raging feminist! Tori just seems to have a way of saying things that feel familiar.This is a great addition to the collection of any Tori fan. It really shows that is a very educated, intelligent woman who is complex and intriguing. I devoured it just before seeing her live for the first time on her Original Sinsuality tour and I still, and always will, treasure it.

Very interesting account on her life and perspectives. And also very interesting in regard to her experience and vision about the current music industry. Well worth it!

I love this book and Tori's honesty. I not only learned about Tori but a bit about the music industry as well.

Absolute must have for any fan.

I got a copy of this book from a friend and found it very hard to get into as it was not what i expected. It was a great book but the style of how it has been written was not the format that i find easy to read. It is really interesting as she talks a lot about religion and how it influences her music but i found myself getting boggled by all the details of spiritual people and music jargon. I started to really enjoy the book from about the half way point as this was when i started to find out stuff that i was looking for earlier in the book so it ended on a good note. I would definitely recommend it to a Tori Amos fan though as she is so interesting.

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Fantástica

I was surprised a lots of times while reading this book – never was I expecting for so many historical and very personal moments to be shared all together in one small book. I enjoyed it, I was fascinated by it and it moved me. Surely I will read it again- some of those chapters still needed to be processed and get better understanding and I'm pretty sure that once I read them again a whole new meaning will come out for me.It was great reading experience for me and it was more than I expected this book to be…

Wer bei "Piece by Piece" eine (Auto)Biographie im üblichen Sinn erwartet, der hat sich gewaltig geschnitten. Zusammen mit der renommierten Musikschriftstellerin Ann Powers lässt Tori ihr bisheriges Leben Revue passieren und lässt dabei auch einige ihrer alten und neuen Wegbegleiter, darunter ihr Ehemann Mark Hawley und Manager John Witherspoon, zu Wort kommen.Unterteilt in acht Kapitel von "Corn Mother:Genealogies" bis "The Lioness: Surviving the Music Business" erhält man tiefe Einblicke in das Leben und Schaffen dieser ungewöhnlichen Künstlerin. Man erfährt nicht nur von ihren indianischen Wurzeln oder ihren Erlebnissen während einer Tour, sondern auch von weitaus weniger erfreulichen Momenten wie ihren drei Fehlgeburten oder ihrem erbitterten Kampf mit ihrer früheren Plattenfirma, die sie als altes Eisen abstempeln und aussortieren wollte. Abgerundet wird das Ganze schließlich mit netten Extras: Mehrere wunderschöne, teils farbige Fotos von Tori und ihren Liebsten, Illustrationen von Göttinnen, die sie inspirierten und 24 "Song Canvas(ses)", die sich größtenteils mit den neueren Werken vom "The Beekeeper"-Album befassen, aber auch ältere und ungewöhnlichere Stücke wie "Take to the Sky" und "I'm not in Love" behandeln, und sehr zum Nachdenken anregen.Alles in allem, bietet "Piece by Piece" zwar eine Fülle an Informationen, überfordert teilweise aber auch. Dank einiger teils heiter-ironischen Zwischentönen und der liebevollen Gestaltung greift man dennoch immer wieder zu diesem Schmöker und taucht in die Welt der Tori Amos ein.Und so gewinnt man auch den Eindruck, dass "Piece by Piece" eben ist wie ein Tori-Song: es braucht Zeit, um zu wirken und zugänglich zu werden, ist aber bald fesselnd und sehr lohnenswert.Wer wie ich der rothaarigen Göttin verfallen ist, der liest das Werk sowieso. Aber auch alle anderen, denen sie bislang ein Rätsel war oder die einfach eine außergewöhnliche Künstlerin entdecken wollen, sollten einen Blick in dieses ebenso außergewöhnliche und interessante Buch werfen!

Always been a Tory fan, very enjoyable read. By turns fun, harrowing and heart felt. Skunks read again. Five stars

It was very interesting to read this with the insightful information regarding what goes on behind the scenes in the music industry to her life and music of course. Tori has a very conversational way of conveying what she's gone through. If you're a Tori fan you will enjoy this read! Even if you're not the music industry info was an eye opener. Thanks Tori!