doodledee

There's a story in the news today about how Bob Dylan probably won't win the Nobel Prize for Literature this year. Or any other year, for that matter. I was honestly surprised to hear he was nominated at all, but then I read that it was Allen Ginsberg who convinced some dude on the nominating committee to submit Dylan's name and then I wasn't as surprised any more. After all, John Lennon told me Ginsberg could fly, so getting some singer nominated for some silly award would be child's play for him.

Apparently a big part of the reason he hasn't won the prize already is because there's some debate as to whether or not song lyrics technically count as "literature". It seems like kind of a heady academic argument and seeing as my last "literature type class" was maybe 10 years ago, I'll go ahead and recuse myself from getting involved. I will say, however, that I went through a phase in college where I would stay up late at night transcribing Dylan lyrics - play, stop, rewind, play, stop, scratch head, rewind, play, rinse, repeat - and that, despite the hype - his lyrics were much cooler than I thought they would be. Everyone should go through that phase.

Dylan also has a new book out. It's the first of three that will make up his "official" memoirs. Probably worth checking out, but I think I'll wait until the paperback.

Dylan's Nobel Nomination Sparks Debate [myway]
Chronicles, Vol. 1 [amazon]