The Noonday Devil

My mother, back in a less gentle era of parenting, had a characteristic reply to the complaints of bored children, often uttered just before she smacked you: If you’re bored, you’re boring. She wasn’t describing the child’s effect on others, but an inherent quality: A person doesn’t get bored if he has interests, motivation, and a lively brain. This conviction spawned fantasies in me as a small child of just how well I would survive extremely boring environments, such as prison, life in a space capsule, or being the last person alive on earth. I would be fine. No matter how isolated, I would still be able to think and tell myself stories. If you locked me up forever in a library, I’d probably even be happy.