Torment Saint

The Life of Elliott Smith

By: William Todd Schultz

Narrated by: Travis Young

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the 90s, adored by fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in life. There was trauma from an early age, years of drug abuse, and a chronic sense of disconnection that sometimes seemed self-engineered. Smith 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, although his intimate lyrics carried the weight of truth, Smith remained unknowable.

In Torment Saint, William Todd Schultz gives us the first proper biography of the rock star, a decade after his death, 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 audiobook unravels the remaining mysteries of Smith's life and his shocking, too early end. It will be, for Smith's legions of fans and listeners still discovering his songbook, an indispensable examination of his life and legacy.

©2013 William Todd Schultz (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Narrator needs to take an English class.

Would you try another book from William Todd Schultz and/or Travis Young?

The writing was fine. And fairly thorough. Biographies are often hard to bring to life in the third person. But this one moves along fairly well.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator mispronounces words so often it becomes annoying. This is the first book in over 10 years that had this many mistakes in it.

Any additional comments?

Elliott Smith was an amazing songwriter and guitar player. I am revisiting all of his work now as i go thru the experience of quitting pain medication after 20 years of being on it.
For some reason his music has become the soundtrack of this experience for me. Made it much more tolerable.

Almost interesting, often overwrought, poorly read

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator.

What didn’t you like about Travis Young’s performance?

Travis Young mispronounces a word every 2 or 3 sentences. It is annoying and takes me out of the story.

Any additional comments?

I am going to start asking for refunds for books read by semiliterate narrators.

Several books I downloaded recently had the same problem. Imagine if you bought a printed book that had a multiple typos on every page. Does anyone edit or check these things? Or, do they just turn on the recorder and use whatever comes out on the first take?

pronunciations

What did you like best about Torment Saint? What did you like least?

info is good but were they TRYING to mispronounce every name of every location in Portland? And the names? Jesus. It's like he went out of his way to mis pronounce. Like a weird condescending southern daddy

What was one of the most memorable moments of Torment Saint?

how he says OR-E-GON

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Travis Young?

someone who could say words correctly

Did Torment Saint inspire you to do anything?

be angry at the pronunciation

A great insight into Elliott Smith's life.

What did you like best about Torment Saint? What did you like least?
I feel like this book is necessary listening/reading for any Elliott Smith fan. Like most Elliott Smith fans, I have a deeply personal relationship with his music and feel almost protective about portrayals or analyses of his character or songs. Still, because I love his music, I had to have this book. I have listened to many audiobooks on my favourite musicians and this one is certainly up there in terms of what it covers, and the tone it takes. Particularly, I liked the seriousness of the tone of the narrator. It wasn't a 'fun' reading, and therefore to me it suits the tone of a lot of Elliott's music.

As far as the writing goes, the best bits by far to me were the analyses of the songs. The way the author unpacks 'Coast to Coast' and 'Kings Crossing' was especially cool, and it prompted me listen to the songs again with a newfound intensity and heaviness. I listen to audiobooks at night when I'm getting ready for sleep and sometimes, particularly at the end, the mood is so sad and heavy I couldn't sleep. I just thought about his life and how he must have been feeling to be doing the things he was doing toward the end of his life. In some ways, at times this book is almost like following Elliott around. I got a deep insight into how he engaged with his music, such as how he was in the studio or with his 4 track in his early recordings. I enjoyed the author's analysis of various songs, particularly those on XO and From A Basement On The Hill. Though I guess not everyone would agree with these, I would have liked more of this. It just helped me love the songs even more because I understood (though without surprise) that every song was written with an important feeling or question behind it and was never just something to sing to fit the music. Also, it was cool to check out many of the performances on YouTube mentioned in the book. The background provided gives a fresh insight, particularly to the Oscars performance. Actually, the section on that was a highlight. I could almost feel what it must have been like to be Elliott in that situation.

One other thing I'd like to mention is that this book, through the views of Jon Brion, is the first thing I've read that acknowledges the incredible inventiveness of Elliott's harmonic sensibility.

Who was your favorite character and why?
No characters were attempted to be portrayed as other audiobooks might. But if we just think of the story itself, then anything done by or said by Elliott is of course the highlight.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Travis Young?
Yes, if I liked the subject.

Did Torment Saint inspire you to do anything?
Yes it inspired me to listen to more Elliott Smith!!

Any additional comments?
This book really added to the music for me, and that is a good thing.

Fantastic

Amazing book on the life of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. Fantastic narrator as well, my favorite of all I've heard on Audible. I didn't think I could love Elliott more until I read this book. A perfect and fitting tribute.

A lot of big words that don't mean much.

nothing spectacular that any fan wouldn't already know from a few 15 minute YT videos or the book that was previously written. a lot of big words where there doesn't need to be. the whole thing feels like the author would rather hear himself than tell the story.

Well Written/Pretty Intense

I thought it was well researched and appreciate that the author took the time explore some of Smith’s recording techniques. Of course, I cant get enough shop talk and would always like more, but many music biographies leave the technical process out entirely so I was happy he included what he did. My one personal bias is that I’m not a big fan of people analyzing lyrics for me. I do recognize that this might be an important component for others, so I’ll try not to let my subjectivity get in the way, but it is my sole reason for giving a 4 star review instead of 5. If your into that, and are up for a sad (but not unnecessarily
melodramatic) story then you will be more than satisfied with this book.

Did enjoy being led to previous bands and compositions in the real world but this is a messy, yucky book

Prononciation of local places just … wow.

There is a 15 work minimum on these text boxes I have nothing else to add

great book

This book describes in detail the troubles he had with drugs and relationships. I liked it more than the big nothing book. Seemed to have more info and more sources. Still, I recommend both books.

Miss Misery

I miss Elliott smith. He stabbed a knife in his chest must have been pissed