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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Enlightening
This book was mentioned by someone as their latest read. That title jumped off the page to for some reason and I did a sample read. From there I got the audible version. It was read by the author, J.D. Vance. I couldn’t stop listening to it! My EarPod battery would fizzle and I’d switch to speaker in my phone. I loved this book! Thank you , Mr. Vance.
An insight into what is known as Appalachia.
I belong to a wonderful group of ladies in a group called Women Transcending Boundaries. We are members of all different religions and cultures. We also have a great book club that meets once a month. The books are of different genres but always deal with different eras, areas, cultures, and religions, as our goal is to “understand the Other.” Hillbilly Elegy came from a culture that is very different from most–but not all of us. The author of Hillbilly Elegy honestly analyzed his own ways of thinking and why and how he escaped some (but not all) of the stereotypes from his region of the country. We learned a lot from it.
Missed the boat on this one – the author had his conclusion before he began the book. Was hoping for more.
I found this book highly over rated.
I know this memoir received some criticism, mainly questioning the author’s authenticity regarding the claim that he himself grew up a hillbilly, and I can absolutely see where the criticisms are applicable given that he grew up in the suburbs and not Appalachia as the title and cover art imply. Still, I think his self-reflection and the insights he took from them are a fair assessment of his own personal experience. It’s rare that I read a book and keep thinking “OMG everyone needs to read this” over and over and over — and with this one I definitely did.
Why did I feel the author was writing the book in preparation for doing some sort of a political campaign on his part?
Amazing story!!
Phenomenal. This person made the best of her childhood and showed us the potential of the human soul.
This book is stereotypically demeaning.
Interesting enough to take a look but in this genre I preferred Educated by Tara Westover.
During the last presidential election this was a popular book. I always meant to read it. America is an every changing landscape and we must change with it. Sometimes it is difficult as chronicaled in this book. The book was informative and let’s us in on what is happening in parts of our nation.
It would be easy to forget that this is the author’s personal memoir and not necessarily reflective of life in Appalachia generally regarding his family’s story. It does, however, provide a greater perspective on the struggle to maintain middle-class standing in a region and culture beset by hardship and thwarted by external factors they cannot control. It was illuminating, poignant and an unforgettable read.
What’s not to like. Pretty much everyone agrees.
very insightful; helped me to better understand the culture of an area where I was raised.
This autobiography is fascinating look into an alternative universe that I, and perhaps most readers, have only glimpsed from the outside. It written with compassion and the sure hand of a born story teller.
I seldom give five stars. I wish I could award six to Hillbilly Elegy.
Excellent well written memoir.
Interesting perspective.
Eye-opening