Taylors Version, Stephanie Burt
Taylors Version, Stephanie Burt
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Taylor's Version
The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift

Author: Stephanie Burt

Narrator: Janina Edwards

Unabridged: 10 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 10/07/2025

Synopsis

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Desirae on October 21, 2025

This is a divisive book because Taylor herself is divisive. At the heart of Burt’s project is a provocative claim: Taylor Swift is not only a global pop star, but an iconoclast in the sense of redefining what it means to be a singer‑songwriter in this moment. Burt shows how Swift bends genres, rewri......more

Goodreads review by Helen on September 22, 2025

This book is not just about Taylor Swift and her fantastic career, song writing abilities and her private life but as a guide to the Harvard course. It dissects her choice of word's, comparing them to other literary pieces, the time and setting of Taylor's career and world, especially American events......more

Goodreads review by Natasha on October 25, 2025

An insightful and thought provoking study of Taylor Swift, the songwriter, that I found really compelling. Written by Harvard Professor (and self proclaimed Swiftie) Stephanie Burt, we delve into the vast catalogue of songs, lyrics and musical evolutions to find out how Taylor (and her music) became......more

Goodreads review by Lizzie on October 03, 2025

While most discussion on Taylor Swift’s success focuses on her public image or her business moves, this book takes a deep dive into the music and lyrics themselves. Burt goes album by album, examining how Swift’s music has been able to find such success so effectively. Burt writes in a way that is ac......more

Goodreads review by Verity on November 04, 2025

I'm going to be honest and my most listened to album last month was the new Taylor Swift album. What can I say, I'm a millennial who likes Swedish pop, so an upbeat Max Martin-produced album is totally my jam. And so I was interested to read this book, which is a critical appreciation of Swift's wor......more

Quotes

“This is an outstanding look at one of the world’s most beloved entertainers… a smart, incisive look at the singer-songwriter who has captured the world’s imagination.”—Kirkus (starred)

“Taylor Swift treats her own life as worthy of artistic obsession and grandeur; Stephanie Burt treats her oeuvre as worthy of academic and poetic attention.In Taylor's Version, Burt not only articulates the force of Swift's songwriting genius, but—perhaps more importantly—makes the case for her place in the literary tradition. A provocative, sharp, well-argued book for any Taylor Swift fan—or skeptic.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“In this wide-ranging and thought-provoking tour of all things Taylor Swift, Stephanie Burt deftly balances the perspectives of fan and critic, diving deeply into each of Swift’s albums, and tracing her remarkable evolution as an artist and cultural icon. Whether you’re a diehard Swiftie or a casual listener, this insightful and illuminating book will send you back to the songs themselves with a fresh appreciation for where they came from, how they work, and why they mean so much to so many people.”—Tom Perrotta, New York Times-bestselling author of Little Children

“Depending on your feelings toward Ms. Swift, you may or may not want to like this book. Too bad, it’s going to make you like it, and see the phenomenon in a way you never have before.”—Catherynne M. Valente, New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making

“Taylor Swift is lucky to have a fan, a listener, and a writer as open to her music and as acute to its internal and emotional rhythms, Swift’s craft and her audience’s response, as Stephanie Burt. With unfailing lucidity, empathy, and wit, she takes a reader through the songs, until you can hear, all over again, how they really work.”—Greil Marcus, music journalist

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