Hillbilly Elegy

or working on high-stakes litigation. I
should have said anything other than
what came from my mouth: “I don’t
really know, but the pay isn’t bad! Ha
ha!” The interviewer looked at me like I
had three eyes, and the conversation
never recovered.
I was certain I was toast. I had
flubbed the interview in the worst way.
But behind the scenes, one of my
recommenders was already working the
phones. She told the hiring partner that I
was a smart, good kid and would make
an excellent lawyer. “She raved about
you,” I later heard. So when the
recruiters called to schedule the next
round of interviews, I made the cut. I