It isn’t every day The Lantern gets to pick the mind of one of the most influential postmodern writers out there. But Kurt Vonnegut, author of “Slaughterhouse Five” and “Cat’s Cradle,” took some time from his schedule to be interviewed by phone and talk about his writing, among other things.So it goes:

The Lantern: Why did you become a writer?Kurt Vonnegut: The main thing is I’m trying to support a family. I never felt I had a destiny as a writer – it turned out as a way to make a living. I’ve sold automobiles – Saabs actually – and I’ve written ads. Anything to support my family.

TL: You majored in chemistry in college. What got you into writing?KV: My brother was 10 years older, a big-shot physical chemist who thought science was the only answer and everything else was ornamental. When it was time for me to go to college, he persuaded my father that it’d be a waste of money for me to study anything but chemistry.

TL: How did you feel about that?KV: I felt terrible. I wasn’t interested in chemistry, but it was something. There was no fighting back, and I thought maybe I could hack it, but at the same time I was on the Cornell Daily Sun writing every day. It wasn’t just a student paper, but a morning newspaper.

TL: Did you have any other early writing experience?KV: I went to an overacheivers’ high school in Indianapolis that doesn’t exist anymore, but it had a daily paper. You couldn’t play football unless you had a bald spot by the time you were 11. So I worked on the paper.

TL: Who were your literary influences?KV: George Bernard Shaw – we had a set of his complete plays – Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain. We had a good library at home.

TL: You are best known as a writer, but you also dabble in art. How did that interest come about?KV: My father was a painter and an architect, my sister was an artist; there were artists all over the house. So I’ve been doing so-called art since I was young. Everybody should do art – it makes your soul grow whether it’s good or badly done. And one joke I often make at lectures – maybe I’ll do it again, well I’ll do it for you – is if you really want to hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is get into the arts (laughs). The joke in that is the arts are not a way to make a living or get famous.

TL: I’ve heard you hate being called a science-fiction writer.KV: Yes it’s true – it’s another reason for academics and critics to ignore me because they think it’s meant for immature people. They do anything to dismiss me.

TL: If you had to categorize yourself, what would it be?KV: Great novelist (laughs).

TL: “Slaughterhouse Five” is based on your true experience in WWII. What are your feelings on the war in Iraq?KV: No matter what happens in Iraq a lot of people are making a lot of money. Money explains a lot about America. I wished somebody tried to corrupt me but they never have. War is a hell of a way for a few people to make a hell of a lot of money – I mean billions. What is interesting is this country was so innocent before I was born. After the first World War, there was a congressional investigation on who made money out of this thing, which never should have happened. Can you imagine that happening today?

TL: I can’t.KV: Going to war is considered a low-class thing to do these days. It’s blue collar. We’re too important to die. In my generation, WWII was a war we all wanted to fight in.

TL: What do you think happened to this country’s innocence?KV: We had the misfortune of being in a just war, it had to be fought, and so we thought we were always the good guys. War to a lot of people is a game – they don’t want their kids to play it, but want other kids to play it.

TL: You have a very unique writing style. I’ve had English classes where they try to instill certain ways of writing and you seem to break those rules.KV: It’s like a coloring book – you’re not supposed to color outside the lines. Critics don’t like it. A critic is a special kind of person and I don’t know, it’s a very odd job grading other people.

TL: Some of your children went on to publish their own works. What kind of influence were you on them?KV: I don’t know, I just hope I was a good father is all. I was very flattered when my daughter Edith and son Mark did a book. His book is still in print, it’s called “The Eden Express.”

TL: What advice or words of encouragement do do you have for aspiring writers?KV: Do it not to make a living but to find out what’s inside of you. When I teach creative writing, I teach socialibility, how to be a good date on a blind date because it’s a game for two. It’s not just a game for the author, but the reader too. You’ve got to make sure the person in the game with you is having a good time. Kids high-school age, myself included back then, are so self-centered and can’t care about other people that much, but when you’re older you need to make sure your date is having a good time.