Hillbilly Elegy

for me than any other school.
I spent the next few months getting
ready to leave. My aunt and uncle’s
friend got me that job at a local floor tile
distribution warehouse, and I worked
there during the summer—driving a
forklift, getting tile shipments ready for
transport, and sweeping a giant
warehouse. By the end of the summer,
I’d saved enough not to worry about the
move to New Haven.
The day I moved felt different from
every other time I’d moved away from
Middletown. I knew when I left for the
Marines that I’d return often and that life
might bring me back to my hometown for
an extended period (indeed it did). After