Bettyville is the author's memoir of returning to small-town Missouri to care for his ailing mother. Woven into the story of his mother's sickness and decline are Hodgman's memories of growing up in a middle-America, small-town, sometimes close-minded community. Like most of us Hodgman has mixed feelings about his hometown. Paris, Missouri certainly provided its share of problems for Hodgman (many centered around his sexuality), but it also provided positive ones, ones for which he feels nostalgia. Many of those same traits are reflected in Hodgman's mother, and family and community distinctly intertwine and Hodgman reminisces.
