The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is eleven uses his good looks, wit, and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival....

Hillbilly Elegy shares the story of the author's family and upbringing, describing how they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan that included the author who is a Yale Law School graduate, while navigating the demands of middle class life and the collective demons of the past.

"Cussy Mary Carter is the last of her kind, her skin the color of a blue damselfly in these dusty hills. But that doesn't mean she's got nothing to offer. As a member of the Pack Horse Library Project, Cussy delivers books to the hill folk of Troublesome, hoping to spread learning in these desperate times. But not everyone is so keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and the hardscrabble Kentuckians are quick to blame a Blue for any trouble...

"Kentucky packhorse librarian Tansy Calhoun doesn't mind the rough trails and long hours as she serves her mountain community during the Great Depression. Even the rough people-like ornery Perdita Sweet-have their charms. But can love bloom in such rocky soil?"--