The text accompanying the book had a weighty solemnity: “You are holding something very special, one of only 900 copies available in the United States, and this letter confirms that your letter is signed by Bob Dylan,” Simon & Schuster told readers. Publications.

But some of them felt that something was wrong with The Philosophy of Modern Song, the latest book by the Nobel laureate songwriter: looking at the captions on their copies, they found them disturbingly formulaic. As if they were signed not by a human hand, but by a machine.

The book, in which Dylan analyzes 66 important contemporary songs in his personal style, was indeed signed by Dylan, the publisher assured early skeptics, hence the hefty $599 price tag.

So far, several of Dylan’s “handwritten” signatures in the book have not been released online. Their resemblance was obvious. And the publisher changed its trope: “We apologize for the mistake and offer you a full refund for your purchase. Please keep your copy of The Philosophy of Contemporary Song and we hope you enjoy it.”

So it was a mistake. However, in relevant US media reports, experts spoke of an automatic signature reproduction system (“autoopen”), which is used by various organizations and burns other celebrities. So was it Bob Dylan’s fault, who saw some of his teenage love letters a few days ago auctioned off for $650,000? “It would be very unusual for him to deceive his fans,” Laura Tensert, who hosts a podcast about Dylan, told the New York Times. “I don’t think he needs it,” he concluded.