An intimate, eye-opening look inside the life of one of the most unique and adored performers of contemporary rock music.

From her critically acclaimed 1992 debut Little Earthquakes to the recent smash Scarlet's Walk, Tori Amos has been a formidable force in contemporary music, with one of the most dedicated fan bases around. In Tori Amos: Piece by Piece, the singer herself takes readers beyond the mere facts, explaining the specifics of her creative process — how her songs go from ideas and melodies to recordings and passionately performed concert pieces. Written with acclaimed music journalist Ann Powers, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is a firsthand account of the most intricate and intimate details of Amos's life as both a private individual and a very public performing musician. In passionate and informative prose, Amos explains how her songs come to her and how she records and then performs them for audiences everywhere, all the while connecting with listeners all over the world and maintaining her own family life (which includes raising a young daughter). But it is also about how Amos uses her music as a medium to express her unique and fascinating personal history; in short, we see the pieces that make up — as Amos puts it — "the woman we call Tori."

With photos taken especially for this book by the acclaimed photographer Loren Haynes, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is a rare treat for both fans and non-fans alike, an inside look at what it's really like being one of the figureheads of contemporary female music.

"After over a decade of making big-selling albums, but also being pigeonholed as an eccentric New Age princess, singer/songwriter Amos redefines her image in this appealing mishmash (coauthored with critic and Experience Music Project curator Powers) of her essays, quotes from her conversations with Powers and oral history observations from her band mates, husband, managers and friends. Readers may still find a few sprinklings of fairy dust in the proceedings, but Amos comes across as thoughtful, likable and witty, fully aware of her role as a female musician in the mainstream pop world yet determined to keep her work true to her spiritual and feminist perspectives. The book's structure lets Amos and Powers retain elements of a traditional biography — they candidly detail Amos's family history, her shaky entry into the music business, her relationships with formal religion and her multiple miscarriages before giving birth to her daughter — but it sidesteps a straightforward 'this is my life' story line and lets Amos focus on how her experiences have shaped her songs. Powers and Amos also discuss practical issues about the music business and the roles female artists can take — or sometimes can't take — in controlling their public personae. With undoubted appeal to Amos's legion of fans, the book could offer additional interest to artists of all stripes, who may find reflections of their own experiences in hers. Illus. Agents, the Bridge Entertainment Group and Sarah Lazin." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

With over 12 million albums sold worldwide, Tori Amos has become a source of solace for men and women everywhere. Tori's book will take readers beyond the mere facts, traveling backstage and into the studio. She explains the specifics of her creative process — how her songs go from melodies and ideas to recordings and passionately performed concert pieces. The book is co-written by Ann Powers, one of the most influential female voices in contemporary music criticism, and includes photos taken especially for the book by acclaimed photographer Loren Haynes.

An intimate, eye-opening look inside the life of one of the most unique and adored performers of contemporary rock music

From her critically acclaimed 1992 debut, Little Earthquakes, to the recent hit, Scarlet's Walk, Tori Amos has been a formidable force in contemporary music, with one of the most dedicated fan bases in the industry. In Tori Amos: Piece by Piece, the singer herself takes readers beyond the mere facts, explaining the specifics of her creative process--how her songs go from ideas and melodies to recordings and passionately performed concert pieces.

Written with acclaimed music journalist Ann Powers, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is a firsthand account of the most intricate and intimate details of Amos's life as both a private individual and a very public performing musician. In passionate and informative prose, Amos explains how her songs come to her and how she records and then performs them for audiences everywhere, all the while connecting with listeners across the world and maintaining her own family life (which includes raising a young daughter). But it is also much more, a verbal collage made by two strong female voices--and the voices of those closest to Amos--that calls upon genealogy, myth, and folklore to express Amos's unique and fascinating personal history. In short, we see the pieces that make up--as Amos herself puts it--the woman we call Tori.

With photos taken especially for this book by the photographer Loren Haynes, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is a rare treat for both Tori listeners and newcomers alike, a look into the heart and mind of an extraordinary musician. Now, backstage at an undisclosed arena where the sweat of athletes is still perfuming my makeshift dressing room, my many conversations with Ann Powers have begun . . .

You come from the journalist side. I come from the artist side. It can become offensive. I'm sure from your side as well as from mine.

Well, it's true everyone expects us to be enemies. And in some ways we are. My job is interpretation. Yours is art, which often benefits from mystery . . .

Ann and I decided to strip our roles back to basics. We are both women born feminists in the 1960s. We are both married. We are both mothers. We are both in the music industry. Traditionally we are enemies. But for this project to be effective, I had to allow Ann to expose Tori Amos. And Tori Amos's inner circle. And me.

- from the Introduction

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TORI AMOS has sold over twelve million albums worldwide. She divides her time between North Cornwall, England, and West Palm Beach, Florida.

ANN POWERS is the senior curator for the Experience Music Project in Seattle. For several years she was also a music critic for The New York Times and The Village Voice. She is the author of Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America (Simon and Schuster, 2000).