John Brownlee

Where Kurt Vonnegut Got His Ideas

Although apparently written with a thin magic marker on the back of a piece of toilet paper, this single page from the Fall 2004 issue of the Backwards City Review is Vonnegut’s attempt to explain that unanswerable question that annoys all artists: “Where do you get your ideas from?” Where do I get my ideas […]

Vonnegut

Although apparently written with a thin magic marker on the back of a piece of toilet paper, this single page from the Fall 2004 issue of the Backwards City Review is Vonnegut's attempt to explain that unanswerable question that annoys all artists: "Where do you get your ideas from?"

Where do I get my ideas from? You might as well have asked that of Beethoven. He was goofing around in Germany like everybody else, and all of a sudden this stuff came gushing out of him. It was music. I was goofing around like everybody else in Indiana, and all of a sudden stuff came gushing out. It was disgust with civilization.

I'm not sure I approve of the Beethoven comparison, but doubtless this is just my knee-jerk snobbish reaction, because there's no doubt Vonnegut is a lot more ornery and a lot more entertaining.

Where Do You Get Your Ideas From? - Kurt Vonnegut [Backwards City Review]