Sincerity demanded?
“New England is different; its literature is different. For instance, it is an American trait not to be as sensitive, socially and culturally, as New England is. Yankees are terrified of being snubbed or, worse, patronized. Sincerity is not merely appreciated, it is demanded. In a famous example given I think by {historian} Bernard DeVoto, the lost tourist leans from his car window and says, with the gruffness, possibly, of embarrassment, ‘I want to get to St. Johnsbury! {Vt.}’
“After a pause, one of the men sitting on the {general} store steps says, mildly, ‘We’ve no objection.’’’
— From Thomas Williams’s forward to New Fiction from New England (1986)