while dense for its compact page count, nelson paints a very compelling argument for the connection between swift and plath. as a lover of both, i'm so appreciative that this volume exists!

Maggie Nelson is a writer whose work I typically find to be a bit dense and theoretical, in spite of its roots in her personal experience. The Slicks is the most accessible thing she's written. It's an argument that brings together Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift as exemplars of female ambition and self-mythologizing. There's some consideration of Emily Dickinson too. I think this would be a good book to assign undergraduate English or women's studies majors. It bounces from ancient Greece to the Eras tour.

I listened to a talk on Taylor Swift and Maggie Nelson several months ago, so I was very much interested to read THE SLICKS. During the lecture, when Nelson brought up Swift, the literati in the audience met her comments with laughter and light derision, an apparent requirement for a pop star who appeals to the masses. Nelson explores this phenomenon deftly in THE SLICKS, detailing both Plath’s and Swift’s confessional writing style, their desire to be received by the public rather than the erudite few, and the way society turns its nose up at a woman who is open instead of mysterious.

I found this topic entirely fascinating—I just wished it was longer. I’m inspired to pick up the Plath collection I haven’t touched since college and to see which parallels I can draw.