“Why do you think people will want to know about us?” they asked. “We are all so boring and stiff.” “There must be more interesting people in the world to write about. Why don’t you go to southern Europe?” It seems Scandinavians tend to regard themselves rather as we do: functional and worthy, but plagued by an unremitting dullness that tends to discourage further investigation. Industrious, trustworthy, and politically correct, the Scandinavians are the accountant at the party, five countries’ worth of local government officials, finger-wagging social workers, and humorless party poopers.
