unworldliness

Some of Shelley’s friends back home disappoint him too, taking advantage of his unworldliness, his bottomless belief in the groove.

Obviously, some people must, and yet today a passion for reading seems vaguely quaint, while to be called “bookish” or “learned” verges on an insult, suggesting a slightly ditsy, even elitist unworldliness.

Yes, Sarah Jo’s unworldliness is overstated, some aspects of her sexual awakening seem like wishful thinking, and the tonal shifts from silly to sexy to earnest to icky can be a lot.

But the idiom of “realism” masks a surprising unworldliness.

She can’t keep herself from perceiving—perceiving her parents, and how they blunder, their ineptness and unworldliness.