Tori Amos: Piece by Piece. A Portrait of the Artist. Her Thoughts, Her Conversations - Ann Powers

An unusual foray into the world of autobiographical self-examination, singer-songwriter Tori Amos and writer Ann Powers's collaborative effort PIECE BY PIECE explores the musician's family background, including her Cherokee heritage and the powerful effect her grandfather had on her early upbringing. It also reveals her various songwriting methods and her strategies for survival in the music business. Powers and Amos acknowledge the naturally adversarial nature of their relationship, with Amos's intuitive artistry subject to Powers's analytical journalism. However, the two women have much in common, and this mutual understanding shapes the book's tone. Amos's mystical, esoteric bent is much in evidence throughout; she also shares the trauma of her attempts to become pregnant, and her joy at the birth of her daughter, Natashya. Powers's amplification and explanation of Amos's often cryptic depictions of her artistic process provide a down-to-earth foundation for the singer's flights of fancy, though Amos's many fans will need no translation to gain a deeper understanding of her work through this illuminating combination of memoir and manifesto.