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Comment by jennyjenjen | Hacker News Reader

Some amazing artists come from boring places. There are great rockers from places nobody would remotely associate with great music (Bob Dylan and Prince are both from Minnesota, for instance).

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I'm not sure where this reputation that Minnesota is some sort of cultural wasteland comes from. If you ask people associated with the arts, many of them will tell you that Minneapolis has an exceptionally vibrant arts community. Outstanding music scene for both local and national artists, highly regarded theatres, excellent museums, etc.

I didn't call it a wasteland. I'm from Greeley, CO; that's a wasteland. I think that broadly it isn't reputed as an exciting place.

To be fair, the part of Minnesota where Bob Dylan is from is indeed a cultural wasteland.

All the Irish authors for instance

I'm sorry to say that, but there was probably very little to do (in their time - today it's slightly better) besides doing the daily chores and going to the pub.

Balzac is a better example, he had a frivolous mother and was left alone in a room most of the time. He started telling himself stories and became expert in imagination.

I always ponder the number of great musicians who had messed up childhoods, like having the person who they thought was there other turn out to be any aunt or grandmother. The stability my parents provided has always held me back...

Maybe you're right, but there are plenty of 'luminaries' where you could argue it was their stable family life that made it possible. At the very least it shouldn't be an excuse ;-).

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