Hillbilly Elegy

positions. I watched lobbyists come and
go and overheard the senator and his
staff debate whether a particular bill
was good for his constituents, good for
his state, or good for both. Observing the
political process from the inside made
me appreciate it in a way that watching
cable news never had. Mamaw had
thought all politicians were crooks, but I
learned that, no matter their politics, that
was largely untrue at the Ohio
Statehouse.
After a few months at the Ohio
Senate, as my bills piled up and I found
fewer and fewer ways to make up the
difference between my spending and my
income (one can donate plasma only