Hillbilly Elegy

a perverted one at that!” So they threw
the magazines away to “teach that
pervert a lesson” and never spoke of it
again. This side of Mamaw rarely
showed itself outside of Jackson.
Deaton’s funeral home in Jackson—
where she’d stolen those Beaver Hunts
—was organized like a church. In the
center of the building was a main
sanctuary flanked by larger rooms with
couches and tables. On the other two
sides were hallways with exits to a few
smaller rooms—offices for staff, a tiny
kitchen, and bathrooms. I’ve spent much
of my life in that tiny funeral home,
saying goodbye to aunts and uncles and
cousins and great-grandparents. And