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Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith, by William Todd Schultz
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Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the '90s, adored by fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. He died violently in LA in 2003, under what some believe to be questionable circumstances, of stab wounds to the chest. By this time fame had found him, and record-buyers who shared the listening experience felt he spoke directly to them from beyond: astute, damaged, lovelorn, fighting until he could fight no more. And yet Smith remained unknowable. In Torment Saint, William Todd Schultz gives us the definitive biography of the rock star, imbued with affection, authority, sensitivity, and long-awaited clarity.
Torment Saint draws on Schultz's careful, deeply knowledgeable readings and insights, as well as on more than 150 hours of interviews with close friends from Texas to Los Angeles, lovers, bandmates, music peers, managers, label owners, and recording engineers and producers. This book unravels the remaining mysteries of Smith's life and his shocking, too early end. It's an indispensable examination of his life and legacy.
- Sales Rank: #210772 in Books
- Published on: 2015-04-07
- Released on: 2015-04-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.31" h x .94" w x 5.52" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this detailed biography of Elliott Smith, the gifted singer-songwriter who was beloved by the indie-rock world and praised for solo albums such as Either/Or, Schultz opens a window on the musician who died from a fatal stab wound in 2003 at age 34. Schultz—editor of the Handbook of Psychobiography and author of books on Truman Capote and Diane Arbus—brings to his work a deep understanding of how inner and outer landscapes can affect unique and sensitive artists. Schultz follows the uncanny intersection of the lives of Smith and fellow Pacific Northwest rocker Kurt Cobain: both witnessed domestic violence and divorce during their childhoods, with resulting feelings of abandonment and loss of security showing up regularly in songs; both suffered from lifelong bouts of depression; both hung out in Portland bars where the prevailing mid-1980s zeitgeist included punk, indie, anything-goes aesthetics; and both used hard drugs such as heroin. But no matter how dark Smith's story gets, Schultz never loses sight of the beauty of his music. Agent: Betsy Lerner, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Oct.)
From Booklist
Elliott Smith is what some call a cult artist. He achieved mainstream fame of sorts when he was nominated for an Academy Award for his song “Miss Misery,” from the film Good Will Hunting, but he has mostly lived his life on the edge in Portland, Oregon. Smith suffered from depression and alcohol and drug addiction, and these topics appear frequently in his music. Schultz’s thorough biography examines Smith’s difficult childhood, his years in numerous bands, and his solo career. He offers thoughtful observations on Smith’s songs, which are notable for their profound melancholy and deep sadness. Before his death in 2003 from a stab wound to his heart, which occurred under mysterious circumstances, Smith was working on a double album. Schultz describes his music as “extraordinarily accomplished,” and Smith himself as sweet and compassionate. “Elliott was very deeply loved by many, many people,” writes Schultz. “The largest mystery of all is why he so often could not believe that.” Fans of Smith’s ethereal music will appreciate this book, published on the tenth anniversary of his untimely death. --June Sawyers
From Bookforum
In Torment Saint, William Todd Schultz has written his own kind of love song—an account of Smith’s life that does full justice to his memory and the impressive legacy of his art. Schultz makes good on the promise of his subtitle by focusing on the life of Elliot Smith—largely ignoring the cottage industry of lurid speculation about the circumstances of the songwriter’s violent death in 2003. He doesn’t dwell unduly on his subject’s depression, his darkness, or his inability to recognize his own talent and innate goodness. Those traits were, of course, integral to Elliott’s personality, but they aren’t the final word on his life, and so Torment Saint is both a persuasive reckoning with Elliott’s inner demons and –much more important—a full appreciation, and celebration, of his undeniable genius. —Rhett Miller
Most helpful customer reviews
44 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
A solid swing but a tragic miss
By brightnight
It seems to me that there are a lot of slanted reviews on here for this book so I'm going to preface mine by admitting that I have no connection to Elliott Smith other than simply being a big fan. And to be fair, I've been a fan since about 1998 and I love his music but that's my only connection to the musician himself. I've no connection to anyone in his life, his circle, his family or to the author. So for what it's worth, this review is coming from a fan of the music and that's where my interests begin and end.
My first impression of this book was the unbearable way Elliott's lyrics were woven into the narrative of the book. Others have mentioned it and it's the most obvious flaw. And unfortunately the one that makes the book tough to take seriously regularly throughout the entirety of it....all the way down to the last chapter.
A pretty typical example:
"Figure 8 also unpacks a conspicuous army-related theme, the generals, sergeants, non-commissioned officers all showing up at different junctures. A sergeant, for instance, breaks the key off in a lock in "Color Bars," pinning Elliott in the place he comes from. Veiled suicide references appear as everyone wants Elliott to ride into the sunset but he battles back, for the moment, declaring, 'I ain't gonna go down," a phrase he was drawn to as a symbol of giving up and losing all hope..." and continues later on with, "He's an army man, ordered to march where he stands, as a "dead enemy" springs and wails in his face."
This type of narrative, literally interpreting Elliott's lyrics and weaving them into the story, continues throughout the book and is, at times, unbearable and very much cringeworthy at times.
We're told by Elliott himself in his many interviews that the lyrics are mostly metaphors and little stories, not autobiographical (even the book mentions this through a few Elliott quotes) yet the author does his best to literally interpret those and directly apply them to Elliott's life, the situations he was dealing with and the people in his life. And many times, it's not just a stretch, it's downright laughable. And it's a shame.
The comparisons to Kurt Cobain are a bit of a stretch...any fan of Elliott would tell you that, yet there is a fairly substantial amount of time spent discussing the two.
Another obvious questionable part: If you believe the author and his sources, much of Elliott's lyrics were written by a friend from his high school years, back when he was 15:
"A little known fact about Roman Candle - indeed, about all of Elliott's albums up to and including small sections of 2000's Figure 8 - is that high school friend Garrick Duckler's lyrics continued to make regular appearances....sometimes the words weren't even (Elliott's); if they were anyone's diary, they were Duckler's....In total, Duckler estimates that somewhere around two to four lines of his (lyrics) resurface in roughly every other song of Elliott's up to around the year 2000.
So again, the author is attempting to interpret Elliott's lyrics and ascribe them to his life while at the same time we're led to believe that, at least up until 2000, they're so impersonal that Elliott didn't even write many of those lyrics himself.
Sounds farfetched but I think the main thing to consider is that the author spoke with only the people who were willing to speak to him. And, in using that approach, he spoke to many of the wrong people: Those looking to take credit for some of Elliott's success, ex-girlfriends with axes to grind, people who had known him long before he became the person that his fans grew to know. And that's a fatal flaw in trying to piece together an image of someone who is no longer with us.
For instance, the author also seems to have an issue with a woman named Valerie, an ex-girlfriend of Elliott. The author mentions that he tried to connect with her in writing the book and that possibly she wasn't interested in talking. There are many situations in the books where she is used as a target and portrayed as a bad person or influence on Elliott. I feel like that backfired because in the end, it was obvious that there were personal issues here at play, a glaring reminder that this book is a collection of opinions more than anything else with a specific message to promote.
The last part of the book is focused (nay, dedicated) to defending Jennifer Chiba as not having a role in Elliott's untimely death. And that really spoke volumes in terms of where the entire book seemed to be suspiciously headed. So a questionable end to a mediocre book, unfortunately. And when I closed the back cover, it struck me...this was a book written about Elliott by someone who didn't even appear to be a fan. And certainly a true fan wouldn't have put together a narrative like this.
Afterward, I mostly just felt sorry for Elliott's parents, family and real friends. Elliott is spoken about by the author like he's some THING rather than a person. Elliott was a son, a brother, a best friend. And that's the most unfortunate part to feel as an outsider. Certainly if he were still alive, I imagine this book would represent everything he was against and, as a fan, it's tough to stomach the idea that I waded through it and then came to that conclusion.
Ultimately, so much of the book is taken from interviews that you can read elsewhere on the internet: youtube, etc. I think those are the most interesting parts of the book and they're available readily online. And that's kind of the thing here: If you really want to piece together an accurate image of Elliott's life, base that on the words from the man himself, not on an unauthorized biography.
At some point, we, as fans, need to step back and quash the curiosity because it's encouraging projects that like that try to peer into places that really should be forgotten, full of interviews with people who were disconnected from Elliott for years, people with specific agendas and the wrong list of folks.
The music was always the message anyway...it spoke for itself. Elliott said in his own words it's for the listener to put together and decide what they're about. If you respect Elliott as a musician and human, then it's fair enough to end it on that note.
30 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
A devoted but flawed biography.
By Douglas P.
William Todd Schultz biography of Elliott Smith is not particularly definitive, though it at least attempts to fill an obvious void in well-researched accounts of his life; many readers having been unsated by Benjamin Nugent's previous attempt that seemed rushed to publication shortly after Smith's death. One of the key strengths of this book is its supremely fine focus on Smith's early years growing up in Dallas, followed by the move to Portland and his time with Heatmiser. The detail and insight in this first half of the book is captivating, with regard to both the development of the man and his music.
The only drawback in this first half, one which occurs throughout the book, is Schultz's use of lyric snippets from Smith's songs to garnish some particular moment, explicitly referencing which song that lyrics derives from every time this device is employed. This tactic, used far too frequently to retain any charm, quickly begins to grate and distract from the text.
The second half of the book, starting around the release of the self titled album, meditates on that album's preoccupation with heroin by someone who at that point was not a user. This is an intriguing observation, but it also marks the starting point of a narrative shift. The complexity of the subject slowly begins to dilute into that of a tortured genius gradually plummeting towards death. Who constructs this narrative? Schultz is the author, but he is not entirely responsible for this. For one, what Schultz has at his disposal is ultimately sparse. All he can rely is the music, published interviews, and oral histories from friends and collaborators, and then only those willing to share. Several members of Smith's family and other intimate relations did not talk to Schultz and it is doubtful they will ever talk to anyone about him on record. It is also not much of an exaggeration to say that Smith crafted or bought into this narrative himself, and began to mold himself around it. This has the potential to inhibit and sabotage objective or open attempts at biography.
It is not impossible, though, to subvert the "tortured artist" narrative, whether Smith purposefully adhered to it or not. The best biographies aspire to and sometimes succeed in holding the subject in question, in order to uproot mythos and to create the most fully realized representation possible. Edmund White's biography of Jean Genet and Jon Lee Anderson's biography of Che Guevara come to mind. Schultz, his background in psychology, would seem more apt than any rock historian to attempt such a feat, but that does not come to pass here.
Smith transforms in Schlutz's book from tortured genius to junkie savant, becoming more and more a flat character, the book petering out into speculation for ten or so pages about the nature of his death. Though the question is pertinent, Schultz adamant and drawn out conclusion of suicide cloyingly reiterates Smith's lifelong despondency and diverges into apologia for Jennifer Chiba, who in the end is significant to Elliott's life, though these last pages in the book hardly deal with Elliott at all. He is talking about a death scenario, a woman caught in its devastating aftermath, and a knife. The knife serving as a maudlin if not insulting metaphor of an existential wound, because the metaphor nearly negates the importance of the music, oversimplifies the man, and dampens what could have been a potentially great biography. Smith's narrative is simply hard to navigate in and of itself, one that may never be fully uncovered, but what the budding lineage of his biographies indicate is that the possibility for illuminating interpretations is there. Schultz's addition is flawed but devoted, a cracked light bulb.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A Diary That Went Public
By Sandy Frazier
Unlike the recent documentary, Torment Saint brings Elliott Smith into focus as a true American artist who made music simply because he loved music and was passionately moved by the musicians he admired. I've read a lot of biographies in my life, but with the advent of YouTube at my disposal, reading these words while at the same time being able to listen to and watch all the performances and songs was exciting and inspiring. As a musician, myself, I understood the passion Elliott had for recording right from the start... his urgency to tape everything that popped into his head while the concept was still fresh and alive... the scuffling about - so young - from Radio Shacks to musicians' clearance houses trying to find any old equipment he could use - anything that would get the job done there and then... duplicating homemade cassettes and inserts with original art and photographs... trying to get those cassettes into the right hands.
Schultz's empathic, compassionate style is warm and heartfelt throughout; he made me smell the Portland rain and the NYC dive bars... he made me ebb and flow with Elliott's highs and lows. He introduced me to all of his friends, his family and musicians - the characters and stories that inspired his songs. He knew Elliott lived his songs and the lyrics were his life story.
Elliott lived a short life that was filled to over-flow with experiences that take most of us a lifetime to have. He was focused because he knew who he was and what he wanted to do; he knew his limitations and understood his talent and his shortcomings. Unlike most of the megastars today, he played all of his instruments and wrote, sang and performed his tracks. There was no pretending; he didn't care if he fit in, he didn't care if he was a hit. He just knew what to do, how to do it and got it done.
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