Before Jean Genet pioneered a new genre of semi-autobiographical writing, he perfected a trick briefcase for stealing rare books, which he would later resell after reading them. 'I became so handy in these thefts that I could push politeness to the point of pulling them off under the very nose of the bookseller,' he recalled.
Many artists have had to measure their dreams against their economic circumstances, often finding a gap between their aspirations and means. To fill it, they have worked at cafes, construction sites, or taken up ad-hoc schemes from modelling nude to breeding Old English bobtail sheepdogs.
Genet was not alone in using illegal means. Jean-Luc Godard funded his early film career by stealing first edition books from his grandfather's apartment and pilfering cash from employers, landing him in a Swiss jail. Chantal Akerman pocketed half the cash from her ticket-selling job at a Times Square porn theatre and stole film rolls for her first feature.
Kathy Acker worked at a nightclub performing simulated live sex shows with her boyfriend. The job paid well and left her six days a week to write. 'You see people from the bottom up,' she said. Not all hustles were transgressive: John Cage turned a wholesome hobby into cash in the 1950s.
