I’m a long time Tori Amos fan. I was elated to read her latest book. It was a difficult read because it felt disjointed and a bit all over the place. It was a quick read though, and I feel like I better know the artist and her inspiration behind some of my favorite songs. Thanks for the advanced review copy.

4.5 stars! I requested this book because a friend of mine is Tori Amos' #1 fan and I know very little about her. I figured it'd be nice to get a glimpse into his adoration for her, and this book did just that. Though I don't necessarily see myself listening to her music regularly, I can now say I'm a fan of Tori the person and the artist. Tori is a beautiful human being and I appreciate her voice, politically and musically, a great deal. This book is a timely commentary on how artists should use their platform to express their views and do what's right.

This book is like Tori Amos wrote a greatest hits record, except for us to read instead of hear. It's exactly what it should be - gentle and powerful in all the right places, leaving nothing out but including nothing unnecessary. Highly recommended both for Tori fans and for creative types in general.

Tori Amos gives readers a beautiful dose of lyrics and life. I appreciated the honesty and bravery that unfolded in this book.

I should preface this by saying that Tori Amos’ soul-stirring music has been a constant in my life for over half of it. I’ve seen her live in the double digits, all over the world, and forged wonderful friendships through her art. Me not enjoying this sophomore book-writing effort was never really an option, but I’m still surprised at how much I relished it. Each chapter in Resistance relates to a song in Tori’s catalogue, so I created a playlist (it would make one hell of a setlist—it has a nice flow, with some surprising transitions), lit a candle and some incense, and was dead to the world for a couple of hours. I finished the book in one sitting… and then dived right back in for a second read-through a day later, which, so far, is something I’d only ever done with the final Harry Potter.

Tori has always subscribed to the feminist notion that the personal is political, and she highlights this time and time again in this memoir and political opinion piece hybrid. By weaving personal anecdotes into American political history, she shines a light on the wide societal shifts she’s lived through and experienced first-hand over her decade-spanning career. However, her main motivation for writing Resistance at this very specific point in time—she calls it “a moment of unprecedented crisis“—is to offer an honest glimpse of her journey as an artist, and her inspiration and creative process, because above all else, she believes that artists play a vital role in a society: Art calls out, holds those in power accountable, gives a voice to those who feel alone, and offers both resilience in the face of hardship, as well as healing.

The songs chosen cover every album in her back-catalogue (except Y Kant Tori Read and Midwinter Graces, which she however touches on in different ways), and serve as a framing device for her thoughts. Most of the time they are very clearly related to what she writes about, while sometimes they fit in in a more abstract, emotional, free-association kind of way—this can be something so slight as a particular turn of phrase, or a metaphor she went with in the preceding chapter. Some of the songs are presented within the original scope they were written in, while with others it’s clear that they have taken on a different meaning over the years; she’s always been very adamant about the fact that her song girls have a life of their own and are constantly changing and evolving.

Resistance opens with Gold Dust, a song which transports Tori back through the decades, and with its help she paints a vivid picture of playing piano bars and congressional parties in Washington D.C. during both Democratic and Republican administrations. The songs aren’t presented chronologically, and the book’s structure doesn’t follow any such order either; it’s all rather conversational, and she goes off on tangents, with skips ahead or back in time, following her own thread of thoughts. Sometimes these leaps work exceptionally well, and the songs act as useful bridges, while other times the sudden changes of subject matter might leave the reader a little confused as to how we got there. It bears some structural similarities to the first memoir Piece By Piece, in that the songs are woven into the book to give it direction, but it’s much more cohesive and coherent as a whole. The writing is very Tori; authentic, sharp, evocative, and endearingly kooky in places.

From the D.C. piano bars, Tori takes us on a political journey through time, touching on the JFK assassination, Iran hostage crisis, Lewinsky scandal, 9/11, Anita Hill and the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, the rising global trend of right-wing dictatorships and economic aristocracy, and the shared trauma of the Trump presidency. All of this she weaves into her artistic timeline, creating a blend of personal narrative and political observations from a songwriter’s point of view. We not only get to know Tori and her views better through this memoir, but also her loved ones, especially her mother Mary, whom she lost while Resistance was being written. Those final chapters unflinchingly open a window into Tori’s grief, and they feel out of place with the mostly political slant of the book—clearly unplanned, and worked in as the project was already ongoing—yet they are beautiful, poignant, and heart-wrenching.

If there’s one detractor to the way the book is structured, it’s that it starts out with having each song introduce the following chapter, but halfway through it flips around, and then reverts back to the original structure again towards the end. Those middle chapters are also the ones that feel most messy and rushed; the originally leaked working title had been “An Artistic Resistance: A Blueprint for Change in 20 Songs“, but there’s a dozen more in the final version. I strongly feel that the “Artistic” should’ve been kept, and overall, the book might’ve flowed better if it hadn’t been expanded, retaining only the most pertinent songs; I’m still a little baffled by some of the choices, especially while more obvious candidates weren’t included (Virginia, Broken Arrow, and Dark Side of the Sun are the most glaring omissions) over other songs where the connection seemed a bit forced. There were also some hard cuts and odd, sudden transitions; for instance, she goes from three chapters on 9/11 to one on Dr. Blasey Ford and one on female genital mutilation, before tying back to the 9/11 aftermath, which was quite the roller coaster. I would’ve moved some chapters around and arranged them differently (although that FGM chapter would feel out of place anywhere in the book! And there should be proper footnotes and references/sources for the numbers and statistics she cites—that’s my inner academic talking).

My complaints are minor though; this is a worthy, timely effort that will speak to different people in different ways; fans will definitely love it, but it could transcend that audience. Works of this kind often preach to the choir, but there’s enough of substance and merit in Resistance that it could be appreciated by a much wider one, as well. Anyone who turns to music and art in general to find solace in difficult times will feel understood and comforted, and musicians in particular would find the advice and insight dispensed by someone who has been writing songs and spent as much time in the industry as she has especially valuable. Tori has a unique gift for quiet observation and distilling some of the most intangible emotions into a sonic form with a myriad of possible interpretations; it’s why her music touches so many people, and why her following, while not the largest, is certainly among the most loyal and devoted of any living artist. Resistance is active, powerful, and needed, now more than ever. Tori pleads with us to stop looking for a savior in these dirty streets: We have to climb out of the belly of the beast ourselves, together, by striving to be the very best molecular machines we can be.

The chapters in this book are named after her songs, so naturally I listened while I read, and the glory of Tori, whom I’ve always loved but had left latent in my heart came crashing back to life. An intersection of personal narrative, political inspiration and artistic process, Resistance implores, “pull yourself out of ‘looking for a savior’ syndrome and do your part.”

Tori Amos’ stirring, hopeful, and heart wrenching RESISTANCE is the book I both know I have always been waiting for, and a welcome surprise. I should state that Amos has been my favorite musician since the 8th grade, and I have closed followed her career since first hearing Jackie’s Strength on the radio and remember being so moved that I knew my life would never be the same. I am eternally grateful to Atria Books for giving me an advanced reader’s copy of my most anticipated book of 2020. As soon as I was sent it, I immediately opened it savored every page (though it ended up taking me only 2 days to devour!)

The book is framed by lyrics of her songs spanning her 3-decade career making albums. The songs she chose are poignant, political, and often emotional. She frames her thoughts about the history of this country’s politics, her grief, her travels through the south, feminism, 9/11 & the Iraq war, and what it means to be an artist around these timeless songs. Her writing is at once sharp and beautiful, much like her music. Amos is clearly an observer of the world, and can masterfully mix magical potions of both the personal and the political to create lyrics and music that serve as a blueprint for her audience. You can make the songs your own, but you also know they belong to her and all of the other listeners who have also made them their own. It is a shared experience that is profound and moving, and why her music has guided me throughout my life.

A book like this is needed now – Amos does not sugar coat anything, and the book is often hard to read. You’ll want scream, cry, and hug your loved ones. However, it is crucial and timely, and I appreciate that Amos chose to write this book when she did. Fans of hers will love it, no doubt, but this book is also for anyone who looks to art during times of crisis for sanctuary. She inspires us to be courageous in many ways, comforts us through her art, and her words inspire hope. Resistance is not futile; it is crucial and what will save us in the end.