One Read 2024: “Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghyAbout the Book
“Bettyville” is a funny, tender memoir about a son coming home to a place he never quite fit to care for his aging mother.
Hodgman, after working for years as an editor in New York City, returns to Paris, Missouri and finds that his hometown and his mother Betty are both in extreme decline. The two share a fierce love, but a deep silence, as Betty has never been able to understand or accept his homosexuality. Hodgman reflects on his recovery from addiction, losing loved ones to the AIDS epidemic and his struggles to care for the still feisty but failing Betty. Funny, honest and tenderhearted, this memoir illuminates how a person is shaped by a family and community that are at once loving and damaging, flawed and beautiful.
About the Author
George Hodgman grew up in Madison and Paris, Missouri. Hodgman is a veteran magazine and book editor who has worked at Simon & Schuster, Vanity Fair and Talk magazine. His writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Interview, W and Harper’s Bazaar, among other publications. His memoir “Bettyville” was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. He lives in New York City and Paris, Missouri with his dog Raj.
Biographical info from georgehodgman.com and the Books & Authors Database.