Hillbilly Elegy

and seemed interested “only in
breeding,” as Mamaw put it. Her kids
never had a chance. One ended up in an
abusive relationship that produced a
child before the mom was old enough to
purchase cigarettes. The oldest
overdosed on drugs and was arrested not
long after he graduated from high school.
This was my world: a world of truly
irrational behavior. We spend our way
into the poorhouse. We buy giant TVs
and iPads. Our children wear nice
clothes thanks to high-interest credit
cards and payday loans. We purchase
homes we don’t need, refinance them for
more spending money, and declare
bankruptcy, often leaving them full of