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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As engaging as fiction, but addressing a real and urgent problem in American society. Well worth reading.
The author’s self reflection of his life and insights into the social culture he was from enabled a deeper understanding of the Trump culture and recent events in our society. I recommend this to those who have trouble identifying with those who feel highly disenfranchised . My complements to the author for his perseverance and attainments in his personal life. A read well worth your time!
Thought provoking.
Great insight to lots of problems.
The authors experience is not unique. We have all to so,e extent experienced his journey. It is that connection that makes it interesting
I think I expected too much of this book. I was looking for more than it offered. I expect it is a good depiction of the author’s reality & roots. It was a courageous undertaking & I almost felt that it must have been therapeutic for the author to write. I did not find the characters as sympathetic as I thought I would. I believe I expected the book to offer some rational explanations underlying the actions & choices of certain groups of voters in our most recent presidential election, but the book did not illuminate what I had hoped to have explained.
I recommend this book to readers who care about their fellow Americans and the challenges they face.
Well written explaining the angst of middle America!
Eye opening look at a part of America unknown to most.
I often wonder why people vote against their interests. Hillbilly Elegy helped me understand this phenomenon.
Very interesting. A view into a world that is completely foreign to my experience.
Very nice to have a look into that world and try to understand better people with a different world view than I have.
This book should be a mandatory read for High School students to understand what the real meaning of w hat government welfare is all about and should be avoided to have a good life.
I liked it, well written, informative account of what life is like for many Americans in the Rust Belt.
Harsh reality of so many families. Told with such passion. I felt like I knew the whole entire family. Great to see the children didn’t go down the same path as their mother.
Well written. Author relates his experiences growing up, highlighting the necessity of having family/friend support to break out of a life of poverty and realize the American Dream. The person who provides the family/friend support can be an uneducated hillbilly, as long as they supply love, support and belief that the person can accomplish much more and give them the opportunity to do it.
Shows what life is like in so many small towns where unemployment is rampant. Very sad and very sad that he feels he can never fit into mainstream society. One of the biggest problems of this country
I thought I was not going to like this book but I was wrong!
Very informative and entertaining. I could relate information in this book to members of my family. I never realized their lives could cause PTSDisorder.
A very interesting and informative view of life in Appalachia and the Rust Belt. So very sad. Explains much about how tRump got elected. We need to do a better job of educating all strata of society, and unfortunately de Voss is not the answer.
This window into the family structures and values of those whose roots are in Appalachia is fascinating, heart-breaking and encouraging. Well written and rooted in a clear-eyed view of the world in which he was raised.