Not that being rejected by one’s peers is the end of the world. It hurts like hell while it’s happening and it does leave permanent scars, but it doesn’t keep a kid from being socialized (you can identify even with a group that rejects you), and I’ve noticed that many interesting people went through a period of rejection during childhood. Or got moved around a lot, which has similar effects. I was moved around a lot as a child and went through four years of rejection, and there is no doubt that I would have been a different person if it hadn’t happened. A more sociable person, but more superficial. Certainly not a writer of books—a job that has as its first requirement the willingness to spend a good deal of time alone. [...]