“Sentimentality is for people who want the luxury of an emotion without paying any price for it.” “Oh, that’s clever, Helen,” you say. “That’s Oscar Wilde, Joe.” “Terrible to be cynical.” “I’m cynical?” she says. “This country invents a fake past, packages it for tourists as a product, and then cons itself into believing that somehow it’s all real. When the reality of this place—”
