From Book Thief to Artist: How Side Hustles Fuel Creativity

Before he pioneered a fresh genre of semi-autobiographical writing, the French novelist and playwright Jean Genet perfected a unique method for funding his literary ambitions: stealing valuable books, reading them, and then reselling them. “I perfected a trick briefcase,” he later recalled, “and I became so handy in these thefts that I could push politeness to the point of pulling them off under the highly nose of the bookseller.”

Genet’s early life was marked by instability and criminality. Abandoned by his mother at seven months, he was raised in state institutions and charged with his first crime at the age of ten, according to the New York Review Books. His teenage years were spent in a reformatory, followed by a brief stint in the Foreign Legion before he deserted and turned to theft and pimping, resulting in repeated jail terms and, a life sentence.

It was during his imprisonment that Genet discovered his true calling. Incarceration provided him with the time to read extensively, and it was during a 1939 sentence that he began to write—poems and prose that combined pornography and a celebration of criminality with a distinctive literary style. His work gained recognition from literary figures such as Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir, whose advocacy secured a presidential pardon for him in 1948.

Genet was not alone in supplementing his artistic pursuits with unconventional means. The young Jean-Luc Godard, later a pivotal figure in the French New Wave, funded his early days as a film critic and aspiring filmmaker by stealing and reselling valuable first edition books from his grandfather’s apartment, and likewise by pilfering cash from employers. One such theft led to his imprisonment in a Swiss jail and a subsequent stay in a psychiatric institution, as reported by The Guardian.

Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman, working in New York in the 1970s, supplemented her income by working at a Times Square pornographic movie theatre, pocketing half of the ticket sales. She also stole 35mm film from a photo lab, which she later used to create her first feature film.

Around the same time, Kathy Acker, a novelist known for her experimental style, performed in simulated sex shows at a New York nightclub called Fun City. The job allowed her to dedicate six days a week to writing, while providing a new perspective on society and relationships that informed her work. “You see people from the bottom up,” she said.

Not all artistic side hustles involved transgression. American avant-garde composer John Cage, struggling financially in the 1950s, turned his passion for mushroom foraging into a source of income. He became a dedicated amateur mycologist, building a collection of books on the subject and joining relevant societies. During a six-month tour of Europe in 1959, Cage appeared on the Italian game show Lascia o Raddoppia, answering questions about mushrooms and winning 5m lire – equivalent to approximately £70,000 today. He used the winnings to purchase a Steinway piano and a Volkswagen campervan for Merce Cunningham’s dance company.

Still, not all attempts to balance artistic ambition with financial necessity were successful. Before achieving recognition as a post-impressionist painter, Emily Carr ran a boarding house in Victoria, British Columbia, to fund her art. The outbreak of World War I and the subsequent economic downturn forced her to devote all her energy to managing the boarding house, breeding Old English bobtail sheepdogs, and selling puppies, leaving little time for painting.

These examples illustrate a common thread: artists often rely on unconventional or precarious means to support their work, particularly in the early stages of their careers. The methods may vary, but the underlying principle remains the same – finding a way to create despite limited resources. Genet’s story, and those of his contemporaries, demonstrate that the pursuit of art often requires resourcefulness, resilience, and a willingness to navigate the complexities of economic survival.