Pretty Good Years: A Biography of Tori Amos

by Jay S. Jacobs

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423400224
• ISBN13: 9781423400226
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
• Length: 221 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Pretty Good Year

Every Tori Amos fan needs to own this book, every thing you ever would want to know about her life and her struggle to become a very large success is here.

A detailed look at her times and her trend-setting ways.

PRETTY GOOD YEARS: A BIOGRAPHY OF TORI AMOS provides a satisfying biography of a rock n roll gal who has a wide audience of fans and relatively few other biographical coverages to her name. From her achievement as the youngest child ever to be admitted to a world-renowned music school to her feminist roots, ability to question even counter-culture norms, and her varied musical compositions and directions, PRETTY GOOD YEARS is more than just a survey of Amos' life: it's a detailed look at her times and her trend-setting ways.

A fascinating life

Tori Amos has lived a fascinating life and it is good to see it recounted so interestingly. This book covers her childhood to recent years and gives you a glimpse into the world of a wonderfully eccentric talent. Also has a great breakdown of her records.

Quite a Story

A young lady who has crammed an awful lot into her life, Tori Amos deserves a well written biography and it's good to see that she has one in this book. Every performer that reaches her status has had an interesting path, an interesting way that they were discovered or a break of some kind that separated them from the multitude of wanna-be performers. Her real story started when she was five and decided what she wanted to do in her life. And with extremely understanding parents she was enrolled in the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She stayed there for six years, even though she knew that what she was being taught was not what she wanted to learn. From there the story gets even more wild, yet she not only survived, but has triumphed to be a major player in the music scene. And the story is very well told by Mr. Jacobs who had unprecedented access to her to make sure her story was well told. It's a story not only of her life, but gives insight into how her creative efforts work.

Now you can better understand...

This book is a must-read for any Tori Amos fan, but also an interesting read for those new to her music. Jacobs uses his own interviews with Tori, as well as countless others with various magazines to give us a better idea of her creative processes. So many quotes from Tori herself make this even more genuine. He describes her personal struggles (including rape) as well as her many successes. Two-thirds of the book is biography, including a section of color photographs (basically publicity photos - nothing out of the ordinary). But then, for almost 50 pages, Jacobs provides probably the most detailed list of Tori's compositions/covers/other artists covering her material/etc. that you're likely to find anywhere. CDs, video concerts, guest appearances, it goes on and on. His bibliography is also quite comprehensive.