Hillbilly Elegy

fought a lot more. It was all around a
rough time.”
Hillbilly culture at the time (and
maybe now) blended a robust sense of
honor, devotion to family, and bizarre
sexism into a sometimes explosive mix.
Before Mamaw was married, her
brothers had been willing to murder
boys who disrespected their sister. Now
that she was married to a man whom
many of them considered more a brother
than an outsider, they tolerated behavior
that would have gotten Papaw killed in
the holler. “Mom’s brothers would come
up and want to go carousing with Dad,”
Uncle Jimmy explained. “They’d go
drinking and chasing women. Uncle Pet