and care for her daughter, Lindsay, the author's older sister. But Bev wasn't able to overcome the odds, and she soon sank into drug addiction. Vance chronicles the series of bad boyfriends and husbands that pass in and out of Bev's life, starting with Bob Hamel, her third husband. Bob makes the biggest impression on Vance—if only because Bev changes his name from James Donald Bowman to James David Hamel, effectively erasing his father, Donald Bowman, who ran out on them and started a new family he liked better. (Years later, at his wedding, Vance changed his name from Hamel to Vance.)

Vance's life underwent a dramatic change not long after his mother's marriage to Bob. Bev's regular drug abuse resulted in increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior. She crashed her car in what may have been a suicide attempt, and, after being released from the hospital, she threatened to crash a car with her and Vance in it. Bev was arrested, and young Vance was advised to lie about the incident to keep his mother out of jail. From that point on, it was understood that Mamaw would act as Vance's primary caregiver and that he would live with his mother only when he wanted to. He began to split his time between Middletown and Jackson, accompanying Mamaw on her trips back home. Jackson was the one place where Vance could be himself, and he loved the landscape, the holler, the people, and the peculiarities of his family. Blanton men, for instance, were known for their pride and unique idea of honor, and Vance's uncles quickly became role models. He particularly loved one old family story in which a young Uncle Teaberry overhears a guy say that he wanted to eat Mamaw's panties. Uncle Teaberry took this literally and forced the man to eat the panties at gunpoint.

Curiously enough, the Blantons, like most families in Jackson, rarely faced criminal charges for the more violent crimes they committed. In fact, Breathitt County, Kentucky, where Jackson is situated, has earned the nickname "Bloody Breathitt" because of the prevalence of such "hillbilly justice," as Vance calls it. Once, a man accused of raping a local woman was found dead in a lake with sixteen bullets in his back. Nobody was arrested for the murder. These selective policing practices allowed hillbillies like the Blantons to cultivate a surprisingly lawless culture unlike that in other regions of the country. Only later, when drugs start pouring into Jackson and Middletown, do the hillbillies of Appalachia begin facing serious jail time. Increasing rates of drug abuse and drug-related crimes in Jackson exacerbate the already existent trend of decreasing social mobility in Appalachia.

Vance admits that there are many different factors contributing to Appalachia's decline. In Jackson, the decline of the coal mining industry has had devastating effects on the local economy. Similarly, decreased demand for Armco steel has resulted in a depression in Middletown. Decreased economic opportunity is only part of the problem, however. Vance cites studies showing that the working class in Appalachia has the most pessimistic view of the future. Effectively, they've given up all hope, and the majority of them can't find or keep decent-paying jobs. Many of them also refuse to work, which is a problem Vance blames entirely on character. He notes with some disappointment that those with good jobs often squander their opportunities, showing up late, taking absurdly long breaks, and even stealing. Jobs might be hard to find in Appalachia, but they're even harder to fill.

Vance himself nearly succumbed to that trend of downward mobility. He nearly flunked out of high school in freshman year, and he spent much of his time skipping school and engaging in casual sex. Papaw's death hit him particularly hard, and he was taken in by his father's strict new church, which frequently decried the "devil music" Vance liked. If not for Mamaw's influence, Vance would never have gotten out of Middletown. With her help, he was able to graduate high school and enlist in the Marine Corps. While Vance was serving in the Marines, Mamaw fell ill, developing an infection in her lungs. Vance rushed home in time to sit at Mamaw's death bed. This loss was devastating. After the funeral, Vance threw himself into work, serving a tour of duty in Iraq and later using the GI Bill to help fund his education at Ohio State. He graduated with a BA and enrolled at Yale Law School.

Vance admits that his success is the exception to the rule for people from Appalachia. While friends and neighbors struggled to find work, support their children, and pull themselves up out of poverty, he graduated from a four-year college, earned a law degree from an Ivy League institution, married well, and went on to live a comfortable life. He explains this by pointing to advantages he had, like Mamaw's support, a relatively stable home life in high school, and a willingness to work. He wishes that other people in Appalachia had the same opportunities. In order for that to happen, though, they have to be willing to take a long, hard look at their own lives and behavior. Progress cannot be made when they allow themselves to succumb to drug addiction or quit jobs for no good reason. He places blame for the current situation on individuals, rather than institutions. In order to escape poverty, he argues, hillbillies need to first believe that they can.