Bob Dylan Wins The Nobel Prize In Literature

Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate

Everyone should remember that there is no Nobel Prize in Takes on Why a Different Singer Should Have Won the Nobel Prize in Literature and maybe just take a day off, okay?

Congratulations to croaky-voiced legend Bob Dylan, who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” The New York Times notes that he is the first American Jew who was born in this country to have won the award, which probably doesn’t have any larger meaning except to signify that unless Philip Roth lives to be 800 it is unlikely he is going to get the prize too. From a media standpoint, this is good news for all the organizations who have a Dylan obituary ready to go, because those should be super-easy to repurpose, but if you are an “online journalist” who works for anyone besides USA Today there’s a good chance you will be spending your afternoon hustling together a list of his songs from best to worst. While I would personally put “Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)” up near the top, that is an idiosyncratic selection on my part and should in no way direct your own assembly, but if you are looking for a little controversy in hopes of juicing traffic you could do worse than to have “Jet Pilot” in your top ten. Anyway, I’m sure we’re all very much looking forward to the rambling speech Bob will hopefully deliver come December. Now go call your Dad, I bet he’s over the moon.