Robert Zimmerman

It has come down to this. There are surprises left in the world. And perhaps the biggest surprise in a good while is that Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature yesterday.

Of course this doesn't resonant, good or bad with all. That oracle of sports talk, Mike Francesca on WFAN yesterday started the show with the announcement that the plugged in had already heard. Except in Big Mike's alternate universe he dryly noted that Bob Dylan had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

When the first caller up reminded surly Mike that it was the prize for Literature, sweetheart Mike, immediately annoyed he was being questioned, acidly asked the man, "is that why you called me up," then hung up.

There were certainly reactions to the announcement, from it's about time, to simply being dumbfounded that a singer/songwriter with perhaps a voice that could sand wood could even be considered for an award that has gone to some paragons of literature who boasted a lifetime of writing books, not songs.

Never mind the contretemps the announcement brought, it brought true surprise and delight from those who counted.

Back in April when the Mets still had a chance to win the World Series, Rosanne Cash gave one of those 'Live from the New York Public Library' series interviews, with Paul Holdengraber crafting the questions. This was covered in a prior posting.

Part of Paul's technique was to show Rosanne a series of pictures that were sharply projected on a screen for all the see. This was not a blind taste test, Rosanne knew what the images were going to be when Paul asked her to comment on them. Thus, photos of needlework,  family, roses, an exploding airplane, a favorite example of an interior decorator's work, and paintings were clicked through and commented on.

Then the photo of a young Bob Dylan came up. Rosanne, with the barest of pauses commented with almost a hushed tone of awe and reverence that "Dylan is responsible for all the singer/songwriters after him; without him we wouldn't be here."

In today's Times there are several stories and essays on Dylan, including Rosanne's Twitter quote from early Thursday morning that I responded to by adding my two cents to that it is still possible to be pleasantly surprised in this world. Rosanne tweeted:  "Holy mother of god, Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize." In Literature Mike, not for Peace; someone else already got that one.

Back in April, Rosanne knew what the Swedish Academy has now told everyone.

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