Kurt Vonnegut Once Said Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan Was 'Worst Poet Alive'

By now, you probably know that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. And the reaction has been ... interesting.

Many have reached out and expressed their happiness for the “Like A Rolling Stone” singer:

Quite a few others have been less than enthusiastic:

Hell, Dylan himself hasn’t officially said anything about the award. For a short time, his website featured “Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature” at the top ... but it has since been taken down.

All of this pales in comparison, however, to what the late Kurt Vonnegut said about Dylan, years before the musician won the Nobel. In an epic interview conducted in November 1991, Vonnegut had some choice words about Bob Dylan’s lyrical stylings.

When asked about his taste in music (FYI: the author doesn’t like rap), Vonnegut said this:

The Beatles have made a substantial contribution. Bob Dylan, however, is the worst poet alive. He can maybe get one good line in a song, and the rest is gibberish.

Daaaaaamn, Vonnegut.

Hustler is apparently publishing the interview in the upcoming December issue, which you can read here. If only Vonnegut were alive to watch (and probably heckle) Dylan at the Dec. 10 Nobel ceremony. You know, if Dylan shows up.

So it goes ...

(h/t Consequence of Sound)

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the interview with Vonnegut was published in the November 1991 issue of Hustler. It was conducted in November 1991, and will be published in Hustler’s December 2016 issue.