Resistance : a songwriter's story of hope, change, and courage /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A timely and passionate call to action for engaging with our current political moment, from the Grammy-nominated and multiplatinum singer-songwriter and New York Times bestselling author Tori Amos.

Since the release of her first, career-defining solo album Little Earthquakes , Tori Amos has been one of the music industry's most enduring and ingenious artists. From her unnerving depiction of sexual assault in "Me and a Gun" to her post-September 11 album, Scarlet's Walk , to her latest album, Native Invader , her work has never shied away from intermingling the personal with the political.

Amos began playing piano as a teenager for the politically powerful at hotel bars in Washington, DC, during the formative years of the post-Goldwater and then Koch-led Libertarian and Reaganite movements. The story continues to her time as a hungry artist in Los Angeles to the subsequent three decades of her formidable music career. Amos explains how she managed to create meaningful, politically resonant work against patriarchal power structures--and how her proud declarations of feminism and her fight for the marginalized always proved to be her guiding light. She teaches us to engage with intention in this tumultuous global climate and speaks directly to supporters of #MeToo and #TimesUp, as well as young people fighting for their rights and visibility in the world.

Filled with compassionate guidance and actionable advice--and using some of the most powerful, political songs in Amos's canon--this book is for anyone determined to steer the world back in the right direction.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Singer-songwriter Amos (b. 1963) chronicles her life and work, starting with her experiences at 13 playing on the Georgetown piano bar circuit. She describes events that influenced her songwriting, including the September 11 terrorist attacks and the death of her mother. Amos also details the development of several of her albums and the sources of her inspiration, which she calls her Muses, which guide her and encourage her to listen and construct. Relevant lyrics from Amos's songs are interspersed between chapters. Throughout, she emphasizes the importance of stories, including those of her fans, to her music. Amos devotees will recognize the significance of politics and feminism for her music as she weaves current events and songwriting together; she candidly explores sexual assault, self-worth, imperialism, and patriarchy. Amos closes with thoughts on the boundaries of creating and writer's block. VERDICT A fascinating window into the creative process of an iconic songwriter, this should resonate with lovers of Amos's music and encourage other artists.--Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Publishers Weekly Review

Musician Amos (Piece by Piece) discusses creating music during turbulent times in this soulful memoir. At age five, Amos began studying music at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md., and, in 1977, at 13, was playing piano in bars in Washington, D.C., a city where "supposedly moral men" were "laying the groundwork for a compromised future." She writes of playing songs such as 1990's "Little Earthquakes" at recent concerts as a way to help people "process the shock of the Trump presidency," and describes how she will often rework set lists to accommodate fan requests. A self-described "feminist soldier," Amos often speaks in exalted terms about her craft and the "Muses" that guided her as she recorded songs including "Girl," about female oppression, and "Ophelia," which addresses survivors of sexual trauma. She calls songwriters "sonic hunters" and assigns the pronoun she to her songs ("'Girl' had not yet been written, but she was listening from the ether"). A New Agey vibe sometimes surfaces within discussions of contemporary events, as Amos emphasizes the role artists have to play in society: "We must Out-Create destruction." This memoir and call to action will delight Amos's many fans. (May)

Booklist Review

Singer/songwriter Amos is passionate about the artist's role in society, and her mission to transform crises into promise. In this thoughtful book, Amos shares the inspiration for many of her songs, beginning with her teenage gig playing piano at a gay bar in Washington, DC, and weaving through years of touring, writing, successes, and setbacks. The muses aren't always there to guide her, but the songwriter finds inspiration in interactions with audiences and other people she meets across the country. Major social and political events, including 9/11 and presidential campaigns, along with women's stories of abuse, are woven into the lyrics that accompany each section. Amos also shares private struggles, such as trying to overcome her grief after losing her mother. Amos' songs are complex and often heartrending, and she is honest about the ups and downs artists face and the challenges involved in maintaining artistic integrity in a business that's built on the amassing of money and popularity. Amos' many fans are this book's natural audience, but it will sing to anyone with an artistic soul.

Kirkus Book Review

The inimitable musician memorializes her artistic journey through music and activism. With great conviction, Amos believes "we are all confronting dark forces that aim to divide us as a world, as countries, as people, as artists, as creators." This book is rooted in motivated political resistance and the preservation of artistic expressionism. As a 40-year veteran of the music industry, the author acknowledges pivotal moments throughout her career and lets her song lyrics shine at the beginning of each chapter. Amos begins with "Gold Dust," reflecting back on her teenage self and the creative impulses that guided her as a young artist and a rising social and human rights activist. The author discusses how the "weight of processing conflict" fueled the writing of her hit "Little Earthquakes" and how the 2017 song "Bang" was intended to energize advocates of true democracy after Donald Trump's Muslim ban. Never one to shy away from the controversial, complex, or incendiary, Amos expresses past and present frustrations with record label melodrama and the importance of continuing conversations about sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, government oppression, and attacks on LGBTQ rights worldwide. A section on 9/11 comes into vivid focus when Amos describes an eerie walk through a muted Manhattan as "the drums of war had begun beating." She continues, "as I write these words all these years later, we are still at war--in that very same war." In addition to her politically charged thoughts, the author reflects poignantly on the end-of-life care and eventual loss of her mother, which occurred while she was writing this book. The concluding chapters address her grief and how she has been processing this absence by manifesting her beloved mother's influence through prose and music. Though the narrative structure is haphazard, the result, nevertheless, is a dramatically inspired volume of lyrics and legacy presenting Amos as an artist, an activist, and a sharp, thoughtful musician with a commanding voice. A profound autobiographical playlist and radically political call to action primarily for Amos fans. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Tori Amos is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, pianist, composer, and, with Ann Powers, the New York Times bestselling author of Tori Amos: Piece by Piece .