Hillbilly Elegy

escaper.
I was near Ford’s Theatre, the
historic location where John Wilkes
Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. About half
a block from the theater is a corner store
that sells Lincoln memorabilia. In it, a
large Lincoln blow-up doll with an
extraordinarily large grin gazes at those
walking by. I felt like this inflatable
Lincoln was mocking me. Why the hell
is he smiling? I thought. Lincoln was
melancholy to begin with, and if any
place invoked a smile, surely it wouldn’t
be a stone’s throw away from the place
where someone shot him in the head.
I turned the corner, and after a few
steps I saw Usha sitting on the steps of