Ben follows them into the study, the walls lined with bookshelves filled with psychology texts, sociological studies, economic histories, evidence of their belief that the truth of the world is contained in books, if only you could read enough of them, and the right ones.
Now Ben wants a truth that can’t be found in books and says, “Please, I need to know.”
“We came here in the fresh bloom of our idealism,” Diane explains. “We thought we would change the world.”
Ben’s about to object to the whole “Diamonds and Rust” monologue he senses is coming, but then his mother starts talking about a guy giving away tacos.