“‘I wanted to have an exciting week,’ she said, ‘in order to write an essay the class would find interesting. But on Friday my boyfriend was sick, and I was only able to do such interesting things as traveling to the pharmacy and taking his temperature. Then on Saturday I became sick, and did such interesting things as coughing, shaking, and dreaming in a fever. On Sunday we both felt better, and so we did such interesting things as reading, drinking tea, and sweeping the dusty house. I was worried. I asked my boyfriend if my life was a little boring. My boyfriend is a serious person. He thought for a long time. He told me that everyone’s life is a little boring, if you write it down.’”
—“The Intermediate Class,” Sam Allingham