On the train ride between Cork and Dublin yesterday, we came up with a list comparing rock bands/artists to writers.

A fine idea, but the execution is wildly flawed. Bruce = Norman Mailer? The Flaming Lips = Shel Silverstein? Marvin Gaye = Maya Angelou? Some of these I just can't abide.

Even the Bob Dylan = Ernest Hemingway, while flattering to both, makes no particular sense on close examination. Bruce is significantly more Hemingwayesque than Dylan, isn't he? I think I'd match Dylan with Walt Whitman, much moreso than Queen -- but that's just off the top of my head.

Some are better. Vonnegut = Hendrix make some amount of sense, The Clash = Hunter S. Thompson too. The Rolling Stones really do = Charles Dickens. I'm even somewhat willing to go along with the The Beatles = Roald Dahl comparison. But overall I'm outraged. (via Bookslut)