Thank you to Dey Street books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am a huge Swiftie and have read so many different books on her, but I really loved and enjoyed this one. Rather than being a boring retelling of facts, this was told almost in an upbeat story share. There were lots of fun facts sprinkled through the chapters with things I didn’t even know about her (and I seriously thought I knew it all). I also adored the chapter titles being mixed with song titles.

If you’re a Swiftie you have to pick up this fun new book for your collection!

Heartbreak is the National Anthem is a collection of brief music / cultural criticism essays on the music, artistry, and phenomenon of Taylor Swift. The collection spans her career, from her country origins to dizzying heights of pop superstardom, with essays dedicated to each album, with additional sections on her pivots from country to pop, the evolution of her branding / celebrity persona, the Taylor's Version re-recording project, and the Swiftie fandom.

I do think that this collection will resonate the most with readers who have more than passing familiarity with Swift, her catalogue, and her lore. The essays are sprinkled with allusions and quotations from deep cut lyrics, and the discussion of her public mythology assumes the reader has a firm understanding of the basics. Swifties will especially enjoy this collection. The writing is thoughtful and nuanced, with such respect for Swift's work and the palpable enthusiasm of communicating with a fellow fan. Rob Sheffield is so tangibly One of Us, and he captures the magic of Swift's music among her fans so well. I was delighted to notice that my favorite Swift song, folklore's "mirrorball," was one of several songs to receive their own chapters.

I've already recommended it to several of my Swiftie friends.

Rob Sheffield has followed Taylor Swift since the beginning of her career - literally. The Rolling Stone journalist has been a Swiftie since nearly day one, and has followed her on tour, in the studio, and everywhere in between. "Heartbreak is the National Anthem" charts Swift's rise to fame as a young Nashville songwriter to how she became one of the most powerful women in the world. His analysis goes deep on Taylor's work and, like Swift herself, includes many easter eggs (via turns of phrase) for diehard fans to notice along the way. While certainly not a tell-all or detailed biography (and it doesn't purport to be), Sheffield's book provides a very thorough breakdown of each of Taylor Swift's "eras" and will definitely be loved by the true fans, and probably enjoyed by the fair-weather ones as well.

~Thank you to Netgalley and Dey Street Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.~

I’m not a Swiftie, but I understand why Taylor Swift is such a massive phenomenon Rob Sheffield’s "Heartbreak Is the National Anthem" feels like getting a VIP pass to watch her rise from country star to pop icon. Sheffield, in his full “superfan era”, shares lots of fun details and behind-the-scenes stories that make you feel close to her journey. Taylor Swift is an inspiring role model, handling doubts and challenges with grace. This book is a must-read for Swifties who will love it, and even casual listeners might find themselves hooked. Like Beyoncé, Taylor has a special quality that deeply connects with her fans. Sheffield’s enthusiasm for Swift is contagious, and his book makes a strong case for her huge impact on pop culture. Not a fan yet? Get ready—this book might make you one!

A huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

as a big swiftie, i have to say that this book was a big let down.
the organization is absurd.. going from debut era Taylor to All Too Well’s release, no actual chapter about TTPD despite the album and its songs being referenced several times throughout, too many chapters focusing on Folklore songs without explaining WHY they changed or reinvented pop music. SO many tie ins and aspects of lore were overlooked completely or just outshined by the ENDLESS personal stories Rob just had to throw in about meeting Duran Duran or attending a secret session… AS IF WE CARE?
in fact, most of the chapters just felt like Rob trying to insert himself into the TSwift narrative with whatever celebrity name drops or personal anecdotes he could share.
the book is short, less than 300 pages total, but still couldn’t manage to truly convey the message in the title.
as a swiftie, I know damn well how Taylor reinvented the wheel, but I’m not sure Rob does, and I know he is a well-known music reporter, but I’m left glad that I haven’t read his other works. Oops!

I’ve been a fan of Rob’s work for years, but he has always had a unique perspective on Swift’s career and work that made me eager to read a full novel of his thoughts. In this book, Rob guides readers through Swift’s musical “eras” while occasionally stopping to dive into certain songs and their importance across her discography. While the book’s flow occasionally felt a bit uneven to me, the content remained engaging and enjoyable.

I appreciated Rob’s writing style—his references and connections to Swift’s lyrics are seamlessly woven into the text, potentially rivaling Swift’s own Easter egg skills without ever being distracting. I was particularly excited about Rob’s deep understanding of musical history and his ability to place Swift’s music within that context, and he definitely delivered. Overall, this book offers a quick, entertaining read for both Swift fans and those looking to further understand her success and appeal.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I received a copy of "Heartbreak is the National Anthem" by Rob Sheffield free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I'm a huge fan of Sheffield and I've read several of his other books, all of which were excellent. I've also read (MANY TIMES) Sheffield's on-going, revised series where he ranks all of Taylor Swift's songs in Rolling Stone. (Spoiler alert: He puts "Bad Blood" dead last and "All Too Well" is the inevitable, deserving #1 song.)

Rob takes the reader through each of Taylor's eras with unique and interesting anecdotes and facts about her that I didn't know. His prose is, as always, beautifully constructed and full of Easter Eggs for big Taylor fans.

His analysis is spot-on. This is a quick, fun, must read for any Taylor Swift fans! I'd also recommend it to people who are fans of music journalism in general, as Sheffield is one of the best writing today.

“I walk out in a joyful haze. I’ve been a music journalist for a while, gone to a million live gigs, seen all the greats. But I’ve never seen her like - that level of total commitment, total fan fervor, total connection between audience and performer. For me, it’s like my teenage punk all-ages shows where I fell in love with the chaotic slam-dance thrill of live music. But I leave the room even more excited for the future I can already see coming. I can’t stop thinking, I can’t WAIT until all these girls grow up and start bands of their own. So many kids falling in love with music as something they can be a part of. So many young fans hearing Taylor tell them that girls have stories, and these stories deserve telling. They’ll learn to play guitar. They’ll write their novels, paint their paintings, live their lives. I can’t shut up to my friends about it. Ten years from now, my favorite music will be coming from these girls. The ones who saw this show or heard these songs on the radio, heard this voice tell them, “Drop everything now.” They heard her and decided they needed to do it themselves.
As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.” - Rob Sheffield


First, let me get this out of the way, I am not a Swiftie - I appreciate and admire her talent, her donating to food banks where she plays shows, and I know that I love how she terrifies conservative men, but I didn’t know much else about her. What I am, is a Rob Sheffield fan - I’ve read his books, I’ll read anything he writes so when I saw this, I knew I needed to read it. In some ways, I feel like the perfect reader for this, since I’m probably not the intended reader (I hope that makes sense).

This is where my education about Taylor Swift began.

Sheffield’s writing has the following effect on me - when I read something particularly meaningful, I feel compelled to read it aloud to my older teens, my husband, or both. Even if no one is overly interested. I do not care as many of his statements must be shared. The writing is pure music appreciation and that is personal - he shares his stories just as much here, and I love how he wrote of Taylor with her young fans in the beginning, and his excitement over the art that these young girls would grow to create. The exuberance of Sheffield’s appreciation of Swift’s music is present in his writing, as well as being contagious - reading this, I listened to more Taylor Swift songs than I ever had before.

Reading this, and then listening to her music, I realized that Taylor Swift was/is well acquainted with the girl / woman I used to be.

A highly enjoyable book and one I recommend!



Thank you to Dey Street Books and NetGalley for the DRC

I received an ARC of this book and was SO excited. Everyone that knows me knows I’m a huge swiftie.

This book was tons of fun! I feels like it was written for people that aren’t swifties at points, but kept my attention during those parts with some of the nods to lyrics and inside jokes. Definitely a good summary of Taylor and all she’s accomplished in her career (so far). I appreciated that each era and its importance was discussed, along with a few specific songs too. Overall, a great read for any music-lover!

Even though I already read various books on Taylor Swift this one stode out. Rob Sheffield brings as a music journalist an unique perspective on Taylor Swift's career, which makes this an interesting read.

Digested in a single 224-page gulp, this paean to Taylor Swift by noted music writer Rob Sheffield is guaranteed to please any and all Swifties (there are Easter eggs in his references that I'm sure went right by me). The book operates as a comprehensive overview of her remarkable and unprecedented career, a lovingly sober take on how exhausting she must be to non-fans, and an appreciation of her deep craft.

I'm not a Swiftie, but any living human absorbs a certain amount of data/content about/from her. Even without my deep background on her, this book makes the case for her as a generational artist (not simply a huge star). It's fast-moving, entertaining as hell, and as funny as it wants to be - I laughed out loud after the punchline in a story involving LeAnn Rimes.

As a 65-year-old man bred in the classic rock era, though one who has tried hard all his life to look past that narrow cultural lens, what's most fascinating to me is how overwhelming Sheffield's enthusiasm is for Swift - Sheffield, a 58-year-old man who's written about Bowie and the Beatles and, in some people's view, should know better in placing Swift in that pantheon. But he is so guileless in his love and fandom, so unapologetically, completely in the bag for Swift, that his sheer enthusiasm not only carries you along, but makes his case convincingly.

All of which is to say that you don't have to be a huge Taylor Swift fan to love this book, and in some ways, it's more valuable if you're not.

May thanks to Dey Street Books and NetGalley for this advance copy.

This was an incredibly quick and enjoyable read, though it is mostly aimed at Swifties who are already indoctrinated. The author clearly has an affinity for everything about Swift's music and goes, in detail, through every facet of her origin story before settling in to an album-by-album journey through her discography. Along the way, he picks out certain songs to focus on for various reasons, which I found to be the most enjoyable part of this book. For the most part, he doesn't give any information about the recording or writing of these songs but he doe share not only his opinion of them but he also brilliantly connects them to other songs in her canon so that the reader can follow the thread of her songwriting maturity. There are a few moments where he injects his personal relationship with Swift into the narrative, as well as a few other artists he has had the professional pleasure of dealing with, but it doesn't play like random name-dropping but rather it only enforces how seriously he takes his job as a music writer/critic. Ultimately, this is a book written by an intelligent and passionate super-fan, who is adept at placing Swift in the pantheon of popular music from the last 50-60 years in an attempt to explain her incredible appeal and stature.

I am 55 years old and a Taylor Swift fan. I began listening, because my daughter is a huge fan. The music is amazing, so it didn't take long for me to hop on the bandwagon.

Rob Sheffield is a great music writer (his book Dreaming About the Beatles a fav), so it's terrific to get his take on Swift. I like that he spends a lot of time discussing Swift's songwriting, which I think is her strength. Because Sheffield is a huge fan, he provides a wealth of interesting facts that I didn't know.

As a middle-age dude, I appreciate that Sheffield writes from a similar perspective--the Taylor Swift fan from an outlier demo.

Netgalley provided me with a free egalley of this book in return for an honest review.