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The Myth Of Tori
The Myth of Tori is a truly rare and unique book, the product of almost twenty years of research and work, exploring the musical, intellectual, mythical, spiritual, and emotional journey of one of the most inspiring and creative musical artists of our time: Tori Amos.
Often intense, always candid, insightful, and full of wit and wisdom, this epic story was meticulously shaped and crafted from Tori's own perspective, in her own voice, from over a thousand conversations with DJs, TV hosts and journalists from around the world. Since its conception in December 2011, when the idea was first proposed to Tori, The Myth of Tori has shape-shifted, evolved and expanded into the most detailed, comprehensive tome of Tori talk to ever exist in any form, requiring countless hours to assemble and edit over the course of several years.
The Myth of Tori will not be available for retail distribution. It is an independent, non-profit, fan-made and fan-funded project. It also features artwork for each chapter by Ryan Obermeyer and an exclusive cover photo by Loren Haynes!
Often intense, always candid, insightful, and full of wit and wisdom, this epic story was meticulously shaped and crafted from Tori's own perspective, in her own voice, from over a thousand conversations with DJs, TV hosts and journalists from around the world. Since its conception in December 2011, when the idea was first proposed to Tori, The Myth of Tori has shape-shifted, evolved and expanded into the most detailed, comprehensive tome of Tori talk to ever exist in any form, requiring countless hours to assemble and edit over the course of several years.
The Myth of Tori will not be available for retail distribution. It is an independent, non-profit, fan-made and fan-funded project. It also features artwork for each chapter by Ryan Obermeyer and an exclusive cover photo by Loren Haynes!
295 pages, Hardcover
Published February 22, 2019
4 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 14, 2023
The Myth of Tori is a quite brilliant approach to a fan-made biography: It was shaped from Tori’s perspective, pieced together with her own words from over a thousand conversations with DJs, TV hosts and journalists from around the world, to form a narrative spanning from her early life, to Y Kant Tori Read, up through Scarlet’s Walk.
It was edited by Jason, who runs yessaid, one of the last surviving Tori Amos fan sites, and one can’t review this book without addressing the drama first. He made the mistake of taking pre-orders (and payment) before he had finished writing it, and vastly underestimated the time it would take to complete the project—I pre-ordered the book in 2012, and received it in 2019. Needless to say, plenty of people got impatient, and there were cries of scam. With that said, as frustrating as the wait and often lacking communication was, the end result is a beautiful, limited edition, 300-page hardcover book that came with a matching bookmark. Loren Haynes provided an outtake from his iconic 1994 SPIN cover shoot for the book cover, it features gorgeous pencil drawings by Ryan Obermeyer in every chapter, and Tori herself wrote out the book title in her own handwriting. (*)
While the idea is brilliant and the physical product is a nice keepsake, the execution was unfortunately often lacking. Some quotes are so well-known, I knew exactly what interview they were from, or I could hear Tori saying it, but that’s part of what made this partly dense and hard to read—in order to remain true to Tori’s words, everything was kept verbatim, so it’s very conversational in tone, and frequently repetitive, since she tended to tell press the same things over and over again in slightly different ways. I spaced the reading out over two and a half months, and I still noticed the repetitions, and the tiny print and walls of text didn’t help the readability. All the chapters feature quotes on each of the songs, with Little Earthquakes following the original demo tracklisting, which makes total narrative sense, and being the only one that also includes some b-sides. From the Choirgirl Hotel follows the booklet tracklisting, which also works well, but for some odd reason, Spring Haze is missing in the To Venus and Back chapter; it’s the only album song that is not covered, so I’m pretty sure that it was an oversight, and not a deliberate choice.
The early chapters, covering her life before her musical career took off, were the most fascinating and insightful, and I especially enjoyed the chapters on From the Choirgirl Hotel and Strange Little Girls, while the song-by-song section of Tori’s masterpiece Boys For Pele was particularly disappointing—the book was a bit of a mixed bag, and there were sections that were a real slog to get through. On the whole, I’m however glad I got it; I learned some new things, and enjoyed the time I spent with Tori’s voice swirling around in my head. Whatever one may think of the end result, The Myth of Tori was a labor of genuine love, and I thank Jason for the service he has provided for the fandom for some twenty years now—if nothing else, I hope my purchase of this book helped keep the most comprehensive Tori-archive out there going for a little bit longer.
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(*) In hindsight, it’s perhaps worth noting that no sources, credit, or payment was given to the people who wrote the published work Jason is now, in 2023, profiting from, thanks to more easily available digital copies being sold through Amazon. The first edition was a very limited hardcover run for which the price tag covered the production and shipping costs only—a labor of love. Now, it’s a different story. This came to light long after I had purchased and reviewed my copy, but it’s an important addendum.
It was edited by Jason, who runs yessaid, one of the last surviving Tori Amos fan sites, and one can’t review this book without addressing the drama first. He made the mistake of taking pre-orders (and payment) before he had finished writing it, and vastly underestimated the time it would take to complete the project—I pre-ordered the book in 2012, and received it in 2019. Needless to say, plenty of people got impatient, and there were cries of scam. With that said, as frustrating as the wait and often lacking communication was, the end result is a beautiful, limited edition, 300-page hardcover book that came with a matching bookmark. Loren Haynes provided an outtake from his iconic 1994 SPIN cover shoot for the book cover, it features gorgeous pencil drawings by Ryan Obermeyer in every chapter, and Tori herself wrote out the book title in her own handwriting. (*)
While the idea is brilliant and the physical product is a nice keepsake, the execution was unfortunately often lacking. Some quotes are so well-known, I knew exactly what interview they were from, or I could hear Tori saying it, but that’s part of what made this partly dense and hard to read—in order to remain true to Tori’s words, everything was kept verbatim, so it’s very conversational in tone, and frequently repetitive, since she tended to tell press the same things over and over again in slightly different ways. I spaced the reading out over two and a half months, and I still noticed the repetitions, and the tiny print and walls of text didn’t help the readability. All the chapters feature quotes on each of the songs, with Little Earthquakes following the original demo tracklisting, which makes total narrative sense, and being the only one that also includes some b-sides. From the Choirgirl Hotel follows the booklet tracklisting, which also works well, but for some odd reason, Spring Haze is missing in the To Venus and Back chapter; it’s the only album song that is not covered, so I’m pretty sure that it was an oversight, and not a deliberate choice.
The early chapters, covering her life before her musical career took off, were the most fascinating and insightful, and I especially enjoyed the chapters on From the Choirgirl Hotel and Strange Little Girls, while the song-by-song section of Tori’s masterpiece Boys For Pele was particularly disappointing—the book was a bit of a mixed bag, and there were sections that were a real slog to get through. On the whole, I’m however glad I got it; I learned some new things, and enjoyed the time I spent with Tori’s voice swirling around in my head. Whatever one may think of the end result, The Myth of Tori was a labor of genuine love, and I thank Jason for the service he has provided for the fandom for some twenty years now—if nothing else, I hope my purchase of this book helped keep the most comprehensive Tori-archive out there going for a little bit longer.
-----
(*) In hindsight, it’s perhaps worth noting that no sources, credit, or payment was given to the people who wrote the published work Jason is now, in 2023, profiting from, thanks to more easily available digital copies being sold through Amazon. The first edition was a very limited hardcover run for which the price tag covered the production and shipping costs only—a labor of love. Now, it’s a different story. This came to light long after I had purchased and reviewed my copy, but it’s an important addendum.
February 20, 2023
Please do not buy this book. It consists of other people’s writing about Tori and interviews with her, none of which he got permission to use. He included my published work here, including work I myself did not receive payment for.
Most of the content is free online. He pretty much printed it out, slapped on some covers, and threw it on Amazon under his own name.
I have alerted Tori’s management and don’t know what action they’ll take.
If you want to read my published work with/about Tori, let me know and I’ll gladly email to you. It’s just a handful of articles, but at least it’s legal.
Most of the content is free online. He pretty much printed it out, slapped on some covers, and threw it on Amazon under his own name.
I have alerted Tori’s management and don’t know what action they’ll take.
If you want to read my published work with/about Tori, let me know and I’ll gladly email to you. It’s just a handful of articles, but at least it’s legal.
January 12, 2020
Horrible! Nothing but plagiarism from other sources. Isn't this illegal?
January 31, 2020
I so appreciate this book and its editor Jason Elijah for putting it together. Tori's words about her creative process and spiritual exploration, much like her lyrics, remain ambiguous and open to interpretation. While that might be frustrating for some looking for concrete tips or explanations about the meanings of songs, it reinforces my love for her and her ability to be incredibly authentic to self without being driven by ego - she is in collaboration always, with the muses, with the audience, with history and place. It is inspiring for me as a writer and encourages me to forge my own path, as idiosyncratic as it may be, because it was Tori's faithfulness to self which launched her decades long and still fascinating career. It also encourages me to take the multitheistic approach when it comes to spirituality - we need not be tied to anyone else's idea of who we should be. I loved this book so much as both a Tori fan (Ear With Feet) and as someone in the process of becoming myself, particularly in terms of transforming trauma into creativity.
April 30, 2019
Such an amazing book. Taking her words and piecing them together to form a narrative of her life from childhood to YKTR up through Scarlet's Walk. It is so insightful and really makes you long for more. She is such an amazing talent and reading her thoughts and meanings behind her music is so fascinating and intriguing this flew by too fast. I wish this was an ongoing thing to chronicle her career until the end. A beautifully done book that was well worth the wait it took to assemble. So glad I have it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews