THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER IS NOW A MAJOR-MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING AMY ADAMS, GLENN CLOSE, AND GABRIEL BASSO“You will not read a more important book about America this year.“—The Economist “A riveting book.”—The Wall Street Journal“Essential reading.”—David Brooks, New York TimesHillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of … Journal
“Essential reading.”—David Brooks, New York Times
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.
A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
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Well worth reading.
Great explanation of social phenomena by someone who has lived it.
A look at a culture we all need to understand.
Interesting, but not original.
I really enjoyed it. A fascinating inside look at hillbilly culture. It helps me understand how Trump got elected.
Wow! I’m recommending this book to all my friends. Has helped me understand how our current president has been elected and why his followers are so fervently behind him like nothing else! I grew up in a branch of evangelicalism that believes in the Rapture, and the author’s experience in that also helped me weave that together with politics in a way I’ve never understood before. Eye-opening.
Because it was based upon the author’s personal life story, it was original and realistic but sometimes long winded. Was an average read.
These are my people!!
I found some interesting characters in the book and I found a new way to look at “hillbillies”and just why they live the way they do. In the end, their lives are somewhat Tragic and to realize that they are “stuck” in it unless they have a will of iron to get out of it. Inspiring in some ways and I am glad for the author and that he found a better way of life.
This book speaks to how we got to now. Z great, informative read.
Should be required reading for every American.
A brave honest portrait of the authors life- a great read.
Highly Over rated
A view from the inside of white working-class poverty in middle America and its impact on children and their future.
The author is not calling for new governmental programs or wholesale reform of programs currently in place. He is calling for th adults in the room to consider what can be done to alter the culture that has become so destructive to their families and their children. Unfortunately I’m not sure many of them will ever read this book or accept the challenge. Their own lives are so damaged from drugs, violence, poverty and cultural (hillbilly, as the author defines them) expectations, it is not clear, as a group, that they can rise to the challenge.
The author credits many individuals with helping him break out of this culture and provide stability in his life. Perhaps that is the challenge to us, the readers. Be open to opportunities to support those who are trying to rise up. (less)
Those who read this book will find that they love it or hate it. This book is one mans perception of a rust belt culture and the decline of their social standing based on his formative experience. Many MSM and Political Pundits credit this book as a real explanation for the Donald Trumps victory in the Rust Belt in Nov 2016. The reason JD was able to write this book was that he made it out of that society and lives the American Dream. I’ve read many articles about this book and there are some subset of individuals who also made it out the same culture. They profusely completely disagree with JDs thesis on Hillbilly/Appalachia culture. What I read the most is that “he doesn’t speak for us” , “that is not true” or “you are not the hillbilly explainer and chief”. However, as an outsider I found the read fascinating, sad and inspirational at the same time. You be the judge.
Not the blockbuster I expected, just a nice little book about escaping a pretty ordinary hillbilly youth to become a rich lawyer. Then what?
I grew up in the Ozark mountains of South Central Missouri. Many things that were brought out in this book reminded me of things that I witnessed in the Ozarks. Family life is one instance. However, I did not experience the same things as the author, I saw it in everyday occurrences with my neighbors and classmates families. We moved there from Southern California and have been foreigners for over 70 years!
Unequivocally the most relatable book I’ve ever read. While our specific plights and politics differ, the author’s observations and experience as a “cultural emigrant” resonate and yield great insight into the intricacies of classism in America. Present-day issues like the opioid epidemic, rising suicide rates, and mounting discontentment among the lower/working-class each have roots in the themes explored in this book. An enlightening work that I wish was required reading for at-risk youth and social policy-makers alike.
Loved this memoir. Very moving account of a rise out of poverty in modern America.
Great