Pretty Good Years

How did the shy and conflicted daughter of a minister become one of today's most important artists? Tori Amos is a unique voice in rock. She is an artist, a poet, an emotional chanteuse, a wordsmith, a pianist, and most of all, an entertainer who has opened herself up to her audience in a way most musicians would never dare. Tori Amos was a musical prodigy, so talented that she was the youngest child ever to be admitted to one of the world's most prestigious musical academies - and so rebellious that she was eventually thrown out. She is a feminist who questions the core values of feminism. She was a little girl who played piano in gay bars. She is a pioneering businesswoman. She is a rape victim who has transcended tragedy, and has drawn inspiration from the darkest incidents of her life. Tori Amos is a complex artist in a complex world. I'm an acquired taste, she once told Rolling Stone magazine, but her fans are obsessive in their love. Jay S. Jacobs has written a detailed and passionate portrait of this controversial, kooky, and multifaceted singer. Pretty Good Years is an honest and comprehensive look at this bracingly original performer. 221 p.