Hillbilly Elegy

would be forced to refer my case to
county social services.
Along with my abysmal school
record came drug experimentation—
nothing hard, just what alcohol I could
get my hands on and a stash of weed that
Ken’s son and I found. Final proof, I
suppose, that I did know the difference
between a tomato plant and marijuana.
For the first time in my life, I felt
detached from Lindsay. She’d been
married well over a year and had a
toddler. There was something heroic
about Lindsay’s marriage—that after
everything she’d witnessed, she’d ended
up with someone who treated her well
and had a decent job. Lindsay seemed