The New Sincerity

The story follows a nearly 30-year-old writer named Rose Spencer who has just begun working for a literary journal called Asymptote. Her editor, Benjamin, knows he’s working in a doomed industry, but he can’t escape the requirements that he publish the drivel requested by his silent partner, who controls the magazine’s finances, or the philosophical sway of his fiancée, Sadie, who believes all new social movements are doomed to failure. 

When Rose suggests he allow her to cover the Occupy movement, Benjamin originally scoffs at the idea, then becomes excited by it, and then ends up taking credit for Asymptote’s role in the protest as it grows, morphs and eventually is cleared out of the park by the police.