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Music

Bob Dylan's Allegedly Plagiarised Nobel Prize Speech Is Now a Book

Fantastic news for people who don't have access to SparkNotes.
Photo by Alberto Cabello via Flickr

Here, remember back in June, when Bob Dylan quite belatedly accepted The Nobel Prize for Literature, delivered a speech in which he fabricated a quote about how some men "are led to God, others led to bitterness" from Moby-Dick, talked about The Odyssey a lot and was then accused of plagiarising the majority of the speech from SparkNotes? Good times! Anyway, quick update: Simon & Schuster – yes, that publishing house hundreds of authors pulled their books from because they gave Milo Yiannopolous an advance to write his vile little hate rag – are releasing the speech as a book! Merry Christmas, dad. What follows is an announcement taken directly from the Simon & Schuster website, and has been annotated for reference.

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"Published for the first time in a beautiful collectible edition, the essential lecture delivered by the 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Bob Dylan."

Summary & Analysis: Are you the sort of person who would pay $2,500 for a limited edition, signed 32-page hardback of Bob Dylan discussing that book about the big whale? Read on.

"On October 13, 2016, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognising his countless contributions to music and letters over the last fifty years."

Summary & Analysis: First of all, "Must Be Santa".

"Some months later, he delivered an acceptance lecture that is now memorialised in book form for generations to come."

Summary & Analysis: Now, when you die, you can pass a this physical evidence of Bob Dylan possibly having a cheeky pop at the inherent elitism of a prize he initially refused to acknowledge the existence of by reciting GCSE-level English Literature notes to tearful dignitaries, possibly just being a prick, on to your children.

"In The Nobel Lecture, Dylan reflects on his life and experience with literature, providing both a rare artistic statement and an intimate look at a uniquely American icon. From finding inspiration in the music of Buddy Holly and Leadbelly to the works of literature that helped shape his own approach to writing – The Odyssey, Moby-Dick, and All Quiet on the Western Front – this is Dylan like you've never seen him before."

Summary & Analysis: Bob Dylan didn't write all of this, thank you for your $16.99 excluding delivery fee.

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