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Updated: 12:02 p.m. | Posted: 10:41 a.m. 

America ended its drought for the Nobel prize in literature this morning — "A Hard Rain" fell. 

 for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," according to the committee. He is the first American to win since 

Though the Swedish Academy likened Dylan's work to that of legendary poets Homer and Sappho, some are getting hung up on whether music should be considered literature.

https://twitter.com/Shteyngart/status/786539556594003972

https://twitter.com/Danez_Smif/status/786555975146831872

https://twitter.com/allisonpearson/status/786580582595698688

https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/786563452269654017

https://twitter.com/LaMonicaBuzz/status/786558924186980356

https://twitter.com/obxleatherman/status/786525590476193792

https://twitter.com/louistheroux/status/786554292710891520

Critics savaged the song "Wiggle Wiggle" from Dylan's "Under the Red Sky" album. TIME named it one of the musician's 


. It likely wasn't among the material the Nobel committee was considering.

https://twitter.com/WilliamHermes/status/786542461908754436

https://twitter.com/HirokoTabuchi/status/786549468145516544

This one will hurt: Booksellers often depend on a "prize boost" in sales when big literary honors are unveiled. iTunes may be enjoying a bump this morning, but bookstores likely aren't. 

https://twitter.com/parodyofben/status/786588466570072064

https://twitter.com/PamelaPaulNYT/status/786530322301149184

, is best known for her work in capturing oral histories. Now that a nonfiction writer has been followed by a musician as recipients of one of the most prestigious literary prizes, fiction fans are feeling the stretch. 

https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/786523127564021760

For every snarky swipe at the unexpected award, though, there are plenty of people excited about Dylan's literary recognition — and they have ideas about who should be next.

https://twitter.com/scalzi/status/786560424057643008

https://twitter.com/jodipicoult/status/786543014134976513

https://twitter.com/ryano/status/786528173295108096

For others, it wasn't even unexpected. Fans have been angling for Dylan to take home a Nobel for years.

https://twitter.com/Scissors_Cut/status/767819251906260992 

https://twitter.com/a9ri/status/780798233673101312

And, for the record, President Obama is all for it.

https://twitter.com/POTUS44/status/786598777482153988

So what do you think? Tell us on Twitter 

Tracy Mumford

Author

Did the Nobel committee get tired of reading? Did they just really want to meet Bob Dylan? People unleash their snarky responses over the musician's unexpected literary honor.

Bob Dylan as literature? Literary Twitter loses its collective mind

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