Christopher Paolini, 24, published the first novel in his hit fantasy series, Eragon, when he was only eighteen years old.

That’s right – he didn’t need a fancy-schmancy college degree to become wealthy and successful, which has suddenly made my Ivy League degree feel – trifling.

But -- before the rest of you hang your collective heads in shame, take comfort and revel in this fact: he still lives at home with his parents.

OK, so maybe that isn’t incredibly comforting, but perhaps this excerpt from his CNN interview can quell your envy:

Still, his chalky skin betrays the significant time he spends indoors, fine-tuning his craft.

Seven days a week, he writes of swords and magic, elves and hideous Urgal monsters. After rising in the morning, he settles into a corner nook in his office, surrounded by bookshelves, replica swords and statuettes of dragons wrought from glass, ceramic and pewter.

 

[…] His hobbies revolve around the fantasy world he's created. They include making chain mail, a flexible medieval armor composed of interlocking metal rings.

 

[…] As he heads out the door for his hike in the Absarokas, Talita Paolini makes sure her son is prepared. Over his objections, she gives him a bottle of water and a bag of mixed nuts. "Got to feed the beast," she says.

 

On the trail, the young author walks briskly, wearing a pair of flip-flops and carrying a wooden staff.

In other words, instead of spending his insurmountable wealth on lavish parties and incredibly hot women (or men, if that's his fancy), Paolini is living at home atop his mountain of money making replica armor.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are doing a “wet” cleanup on aisle three at the local Pathmark just to pay for college.

Is there no justice in this world?