I went to see Ian McEwan speak last night. He was brilliant, of course. Wry, opinionated, and thoroughly entertaining.

Before the evening began, I was chatting with the woman sitting beside me. She was a retired high school English and literature teacher. The best thing about her retirement? Having time to read whatever she wanted. In her words, “I was so tired of rereading Hamlet and Lord of the F*cking Flies.”

Lord of the F*cking Flies! Direct quote. And I thought, wait a second… not even the teachers like those books?!?

Then she told me that many of her students loved books, and would exchange recommendations with her. “But they were too busy to read, really, the same way I was.”

Yeesh. In so many ways, high school is something that must be endured.