Stephanie Burt is the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University. She offered a course on Taylor Swift expecting about a dozen students to sign up. Instead, 200 students did!
Burt was a “Swiftie” before it became a Thing. In 2009, Burt became entranced by Taylor Swift and her music. And, of course, the seeds for this book were planted then. Burt describes how Swift talked her parents into moving from Pennsylvania to Nashville so she could pursue her dream. And they did!
It was a steep climb for a teenage girl to get airplay on Country Western radio stations (who mostly played male singers). It was a challenge to cross over from Country Western music to pop music. Taylor Swift made some mistakes due to her contract ignorance (she lost control of her songs–and had to buy them back years later) and dealing with the recording industry in general.
If you’re looking for a detailed analysis of each of Taylor Swift’s albums, Burt takes a Deep Dive into each one. She notes who Taylor Swift is singing about in her many Break-Up songs. Burt dissects Swift’s feud with Kanye West. But, more than all this tracing of Taylor Swift’s development as an artist, Burt shows how Swift became a billionaire. Are you a Taylor Swift fan? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Ready for it — 1
Debut — 17
Fearless — 39
Speak now — 59
Red — 83
1989 — 109
Reputation — 133
Lover — 161
Folklore — 187
Evermore — 203
Midnights — 221
The tortured poets department (the anthology) — 245
Eras — 271
Acknowledgements — 299
Notes — 303
Index — 327
