Hillbilly Elegy

eventually got the job, despite failing
miserably at what I perceived was the
most important part of the recruiting
process. The old adage says that it’s
better to be lucky than good. Apparently
having the right network is better than
both.
At Yale, networking power is like
the air we breathe—so pervasive that
it’s easy to miss. Toward the end of our
first year, most of us were studying for
The Yale Law Journal writing
competition. The Journal publishes
lengthy pieces of legal analysis, mostly
for an academic audience. The articles
read like radiator manuals—dry,
formulaic, and partially written in