Boredom Leads to Great Things 37
the best option. With the speed of a dog chased by a cat, he
climbed a tree where he stayed until his mother promised
she wouldn’t give him a punishment. He came down and
returned home where he continued to be bored as so many
times before.
Elon became bored easily. Since he didn’t have many
friends, the options he had at the time were to either play
with his siblings, read books, or watch television. Elon
described the television shows in South Africa as horrible.
He didn’t like watching television shows likeCHiPs, a series
about two motorcycle police officers, andDie Man van
Intersek, a dubbed version of the seriesGemini Man. What
didn’t bore him was to read books and comics.^56
Elon could read almost everything he could find for up
to ten hours per day. Sometimes he read two books a day.^51
When the family went for a walk, Elon disappeared into
the nearest bookstore where he could sit on the floor in his
own world. The booksellers had to chase him away when
they got tired of him. While attending dinner parties with
his mother, he often brought a book with him to read if the
table neighbors were not interesting enough.^59
The books he enjoyed most were about a hero who
felt a duty to save the world and the books about ad-
venturous explorers.^59 He readThe Lord of the Ringsby
J.R.R. Tolkien, everything by Jules Verne, theFoundation
Seriesby Isaac Asimov, and everything by Robert Heinlein,
includingThe Moon Is a Harsh MistressandStranger in a
Strange Land.^126 While reading the books by Jules Verne,
Elon became interested in physics. He could read them