In “Nobel Prize for Gilligan and Simon?” I argued that television writers Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) and David Simon (The Wire, Treme) deserve the Nobel Prize in Literature, in part to inform posterity that in our era, some of the world’s finest literature came from television screens rather than from books. I noted that Bob Dylan’s 2016 Nobel reflected the significance of songwriting as a literary form as much as it did Dylan’s individual achievements. This prompted a strong dissent from Mr. A— one of Bastiat’s Window’s more colorful and insightful commenters. Combining several of his comments:

“Dr. Graboyes’ mileage apparently differs, but for me the award to Bob Dylan was the final and irrefutable argument for the perversion and irrelevancy of the Literature Prize. … As to the literature prize, what previous award approaches the triviality of the songwriter’s oeuvre? … And after this precedent, who would be surprised by (were fashion to decree it) a Nobel Prize for Literature in greeting cards?”

Mr. A—’s question that deserves a serious response. Does songwriting at its best bear the hallmarks of fine poetry, history, or fiction? Or does the songwriter’s oeuvre more properly reside alongside the Hallmark greeting card display at the local pharmacy?