Taylor's Version
The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A preeminent Harvard professor and poetry expert explains the artistry—and the celebrity—of Taylor Swift
“This is an outstanding look at one of the world’s most beloved entertainers.”―Kirkus (starred)
Taylor Swift has become a peerless superstar, ceaselessly productive and internationally beloved. From her teen country debut to her Eras tour and beyond, Swift’s career and her creations have captivated and bewitched us, opening up new ways to see both her life and our own.
In Taylor’s Version, the poet and literary scholar Stephanie Burt offers an insightful and heartfelt critical appreciation of Taylor Swift, her body of work, and the community that her art has fostered. Drawing from her 2024 Harvard course, Taylor Swift and Her World, as well as from her years as a Swiftie, Burt examines Swift’s particular form of genius – not the destructive genius of tortured poets, but the collaborative and joyful genius of an artist who has mastered her craft. She highlights the ways Swift’s work remains at once intimate and relatable, portraying people we feel that we know and people we wish we could be, from the first loves and girlhoods on Fearless through the public and private angst of Midnights. How does she do it (with a broken heart)?
Tracing a path through the Eras, Taylor’s Version shows what Swift has created, how it works, and why her songs will endure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Literary critic Burt (We Are Mermaids) traces Taylor Swift's musical evolution and contemplates the source of her artistic success in this impressively detailed analysis. Burt traces her musical evolution album by album, beginning with the pastoral twang of Swift's self-titled country debut, after which she grew lyrically and sonically with the "New York City–based, pop-oriented, pleasure-loving" 1989, the narrative-driven folk of her two pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore, and the hyperpop anxiety of Midnights. In the process, the author finds the secret to Swift's success partly in her ability to speak directly to women, and to keep aspirational and relatable qualities in tension—cleverly "turning the accoutrements of fame" (paparazzi, high-profile breakups) "into relatable, empathetic dilemmas" about uncertainty, self-doubt, perfectionism, and heartbreak. Such a style positions Swift as listeners' "companion, our super-ultra-mega-famous-friend," even as she lives the kind of megarich lifestyle fans can only dream of. Burt's close readings of individual songs draw on a host of surprising literary references (she compares Yeats's use of "pastoral" themes to depict an idyllic past to Swift's use of country music tropes) and her analyses of the singer's artistry and success are perceptive. The result is an affectionate fan letter with unexpected depth.
