King of the Hill is A. E. Hotchner s memoir of his impoverished childhood in St. Louis, originally published in 1972. Hotchner s story is one of ingenuity and spirit in the face of economic hardship during the Great Depression. Left to live alone in a rundown hotel while his traveling salesman father is on the road, his mother is hospitalized, and his younger brother is sent to live with relatives, young Hotchner s determination to survive overcomes...