The Myth of Tori

The official book from yessaid, edited by Jason Elijah
and illustrated by Ryan Obermeyer.

Paperback (matte cover) and hardcover (glossy cover) editions of
Volume 1 and Volume 2 are now available on Amazon!

Volume 1 covers Y Kant Tori Read, Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, from the choirgirl hotel, to venus and back, Strange Little Girls, and Scarlet's Walk.
Volume 2 covers Tales of a Librarian, The Beekeeper, American Doll Posse, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Midwinter Graces, Night of Hunters, and Gold Dust.

The deluxe hardcover edition is also available,
which includes Volumes 1 and 2 all in one book.

The deluxe kindle e-book edition is also available.

Details...

Using inner work, observation and creativity to explore your personal myth as a path to awareness, integration, transmutation, healing, and wholeness, then sharing your myth and journey as a mirror for others to do the same within themselves.

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, The Myth of Tori was meticulously shaped and crafted from Tori's own perspective, in her own voice, with her words from over a thousand conversations with DJs, TV hosts and journalists from around the world. The Myth of Tori was an independent, fan-made and fan-funded project, and features illustrations by artist Ryan Obermeyer. Thank you to all who supported this epic project from the beginning.

Tori said...

"I was writing music before I could talk. I was brought up in a super-achiever system as a child prodigy in which you cut off pieces of yourself. Now, I allow myself to become a canvas. I go completely blank and the songs take over my body and my being. I am a sonic canvas for the songs to enter."

"The music always comes when I'm dealing with something emotional. If you integrate your records into your life, then they become imprinted on you. You're not going to go to the same place again. When you, the writer, integrate your own material in your psyche, it changes you forever. Some writers allow songs to come through them, but don't take it in, so they don't grow. If they don't let it bring up questions in their own beings, they're just translators."

"I've always seen the songs as having a consciousness. Since I was two-and-a-half they would come to me from nowhere. I never thought that I was conjuring them by myself, and I was always grateful they would come and visit. They've always been very much alive. They don't have a physical body like we do but there seems to be an awareness."

"Within the songs we find the solution as well as the problem. They're a dimensional medicine wheel from the ether realms. This is how they work."

"Music without spirituality doesn't deserve its name. It's the intention behind the music that counts. When you compose for people who only have sales figures on their minds and theories about what people want to hear, then you're lost. These people have no respect for music, and also no respect for themselves. They don't know the power music can have. We musicians shouldn't be afraid, we should remember why we're on this earth, and make it clear to ourselves what responsibility we have, toward music, toward the people who listen, and toward ourselves. No one is going to take that responsibility away from us."

"I'd be quite happy, as an artist, if I knew that a verse, even a line in one of my songs could liberate people in some way, particularly from a fear of the darker side of their own nature. What is any art form worth if it doesn't do that? Isn't that what all great art is all about?"

"My hope is that in some small way as a writer you set off light bulbs for other people and their wholeness. That means their Shadows, parts of themselves they amputated out of shame. This done by many, many people -- many claiming our wholeness -- is what makes a conscious planet. And to me, that's really what Utopia is, people exploring their uniqueness and having respect for each others' uniqueness. Not "one" of us has "the" magic; all of us have the unique magic. If I can remind one person of this, maybe they can remind me, when I'm having a bad day, and I've forgotten my uniqueness."

First edition cover photo courtesy of Loren Haynes
(no longer available)

Many thanks to Tori Amos
for providing the book title logo
and personally supporting this project.

[ contact jason elijah ]

Amazon reviews

other books by jason elijah

t o r i p h o r i a
tori amos digital archive
yessaid.com