The definitive work on hiding in a box is of course the James Thurber story A Box to Hide In, which you can hear Keith Olbermann (of all people) read here. It's possible that this story is the most perfect example of Thurber's particular brand of neurotic humor. "There was nothing for it but to face life out. I didn't feel strong and I had this overpowering desire to hide in a box for a long time. What do you mean, you want to hide in this box, one grocer asked me. It's a form of escape, I told him. Hiding in a box, it circumscribes your worries and the range of your anguish. You don't see people, either."