Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Edit: I plan to keep my original review -I may re-read it at some point. I feel like the person I see on the news and the person I read in this book are 2 different people. (granted that was like 2016) I don't want to rate this low on purpose - so, I'll just clear my review until I get around to another look at this.

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2/5 J.D. writes about growing up a hillbilly, a life with dysfunctional family and declining social and economic area. He goes to talk about his early life and views of his culture and how he managed to grow up successfully away from this life. Interesting to read about his perspective. I recommend the audio book because it was read by the author. ~Ashley

This book explicitly discusses the personal story of J.D. Vance's life, but from a slightly more analytical angle—there's a significant and repeated focus on the behaviors, approaches, and circumstances that lead to and, more so, maintain poverty in white America.

Although mostly an anecdotal account (some research is mentioned), this remains a worthwhile and enjoyable read for anyone who might be interested in understanding soci0-political issues trending in the US or just some thought-provoking insights and experiences that might distinguish lower, and mid-to-upper classes in the western world today

All Too Identifiable. Ok, so the first version of this review was basically comparing my life to Vance's as he relates in in this book, but let's face it - y'all don't care about the details there. :D Suffice it to say that as a trailer park kid from the southern Appalachian foothills outside of Atlanta, who also spent time "in the country" (though Atlanta has now fully taken over that region since my childhood) at his family's farm and who also became the first person in his immediate family to go to - and graduate from - college... yeah, there was quite a bit I could identify with in this book. There was also quite a bit where we diverged, specifically in that while the hardships Vance lived through within his own family were frequently seen in my *friends'* and *schoolmates'* and *neighbors'* lives... *very* little of it was ever as immediately in my face for me, even back in the trailer park.

I read the Audible version of this book, actually as I was driving from my home in Jacksonville, FL to my homeland north of Atlanta over the weekend, so I don't have any information about the breadth of any bibliography here. What I can say is that Vance's words, from his perspectives of his experience, ring true with my own observations and experiences in a similar-ish background, time, and region.

I can also say that Vance describes his time in the Marines much as I've seen and heard others of our generation describe them, particularly as it relates to being crystal clear that while he served in the Green Zone in Iraq, he never directly saw enemy fire or fired on the enemy.

Overall there is truly little if anything to fault here. The writing style - and reading style, in Audible form - were very easy to flow with, it is clear that Vance is actively examining his life and not simply making excuses for himself or anyone else, and in the end, again, this truly does ring all-too-true to my own observations as a contemporary in a similar ish region of the country.

Very much recommended.

Very interesting themes that made me change the way I see things that aren't all related to Appalachia. Other than that, poorly made and not my thing. I'd rather read fiction or something without a dumb and politically biased person writing it. I could get very heated like I did with my progress update I did on this a bit ago and I still agree with what I said. But I'm tired, overworked, not functioning, and calling my trans boyfriend who J.D Vance thinks shouldn't have rights. Imma go to bed now. Thank you.

JD Vance has helped convinced me to get into writing and he helped convince me to be a more active person.
He did this by writing a bad “memoir” and by being a politician that thrives on hate, exploitation, and fear.
Thanks JD.

How did this shithead get a book deal?

JD's meemaw has a seriously filthy mouth.

[ 3.75 stars ]

Interesting, though not earth shatteringly new to me. He takes a long time to wrap it up. I was most interested in his positive account of the influence the marine had on him.

Reminded me a lot of Tara Westover's Educated. Both good, except she is a better writer in my opinion.

Why this book is getting so much hype, I can't say. Maybe it's because some Americans want an explanation for changes in the Midwestern political landscape or what might be driving the opioid epidemic and think J.D. Vance's memoir provides answers.

Instead, this book is the author's argument against social welfare. The author is ultimately financially successful despite a family is riddled with (what looks like) mental illness, violence, and addiction, amongst other issues (all of these things equated with being a hillbilly). Vance chalks his upward trajectory up to his own initiative and idolizing the apparent support of grandparents who are either alcoholic or extremely violent (lighting another person on fire isn't the most exemplary behavior). Granted, his grandparents embarked on being parents at the extremely young ages of 13 and 17 and came from a history of the same. Were his grandparents better than his mother? Sure, for him, but clearly not for his mother, aunt, and uncle. Is that saying a lot? No. And is all of that hillbilly? No.

It was interesting to hear about the other post-WW2 migration: that of whites of lower economic status moving into the Rust Belt, then teeming with post-war upward mobility. I'd rather have read more about that.

Obviously the author had a harrowing childhood, but I don't get why this book is so popular. It reminds me of Faye Dunaway in Chinatown - “She's my sister. She's my daughter...” I hate my mother. I love my mother. I hate my family. I love my family. It's like an endless circle. Plus, he doesn't seem to really make clear exactly what the problem is that needs to be fixed.

booooooo

Conflicted feelings on this. Maybe some of the parts hit too close to home.

Ah, it feels so good to take one off the TBR list that's been on there forever!
I have had a ton of people recommend this one to me, for years, and they were rights. This was excellent. What I was most impressed with was Vance's take on the mentality of those who grow up poor. He really nailed it.
I know this was a book club darling and it deserves to be discussed.

This book has given me lots to think about and for that alone I really like it. Some of what Vance has to say about how his family spent money vs how money is spent in the culture he adopted in law school reminds me a lot of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. While I have not lived through the chaos he describes, I feel that I've been adjacent to it and there are certainly elements that resonate deeply with me.

I need to read more criticism about the book. I read it because it was recommended by many but after reading it I'm wondering what they took from it.... I feel that it kinda explains some of the pessimism of “Trump Country” but I also think it points to the naiveté and arrogance of liberal policies and interpretations of these communities.

This book probably is very powerful for somehow who grew in Appalachia or nearby. I personally did not take away very much from this. It's interesting thinking back to this book in 2024 knowing where JD Vance would end up...

couldn't put it down.

A decent read but unbelievably overhyped due to the trump win. There is nothing revelatory in this book. Generational poverty matters. Education and family stability matter. Government can do good but can also get things wrong. That's the basic gist.

3.5 really. The first half o the book was really great. A cold, but emotional view of the neglected part of American society. What made it so good was how personal it was. And in the same time drawing a picture (probably somehow subjective) of the world poor people in the Appalachian live. What made it good, in the second part of the book flawed it as well. Focused too much on ‘I' and authors ventures outside of the books main context. I understand how it connects together, but felt as unnecessary. The writing style isn't great either and it is especially visible in those parts where author doesn't focus on his family and it's environment. I wasn't also thrilled about the patriotic notes close to the end.
All in whole, I enjoyed the read and learned something new. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in American culture.

Memoirs, in general, are not something I'd read. Someone loaned me this book after they really enjoyed it so I read it. I don't think there's anything particularly 2-star worthy in this book. Its just that I don't enjoy reading these works. Hey, at least I can talk about it with the lender now and understand what's being discussed.

While I found this much more interesting than Nancy Isenberg's White Trash (because of the more personal aspect) I don't necessarily have the glowing reviews other readers have. The book hit all the emotions and I could picture Vance's family so clearly in my head.

But....something about Vance's tone rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like he was looking down on blue collar workers at times. As if, working with your hands, in a factory or on a farm, was not as “good” as being a lawyer and making lots of money.

He does give much credit to his grandparents for making it as far as he has and at one point remarks that while his grandparents were basically awful parents to their children they spent the rest of their lives making up for it as grandparents. Throughout the book he makes mention of times his grandfather would lament how he failed his daughter and what I found inspiring was that these two people made changes as adults, to better their family as best they could. Not many grown people can do that.

An insightful look into a world that we don't often get an honest look at.

I started a review of this book, but it stalled out for a while. After the Washington Post opinion piece and Ta-Nehisi Coates's Atlantic essay, I feel like it's a good time to talk about it.

What worked for me: Vance has a good deal of self-awareness regarding the hillbilly aspect of his background. He offers details unflattering to him and his family, increasing his credibility in my eyes. He offers another perspective that is at times baffling to me (“As a child, I associated accomplishments in school with femininity”), but useful to know exists. As a teacher, I did appreciate Vance's insight into how difficult it is for kids to have success in school when their home lives are working against what the school is trying to do.

Vance became a conservative in part, I infer, from seeing social welfare being abused. While in the big scheme of things, a century's worth of misused food stamps is completely dwarfed by the amount of money illegally and immoral taken by wealthy financiers a decade ago in the lead-up to and aftermath of the financial crisis, I think the lesson is this: perception of fairness matters. When I used to work retail, at a time when people had physical food stamps (like currency), a person might come in and make several transactions buying 25 cent bags of Cheetos with the $1 food stamp bill. Any change under $1 was returned to the customer in regular coins, not food stamps. A few transactions like this, and the person would buy cigarettes. From me, the same clerk who sold all the Cheetos. Now rationally, a few bucks misused isn't making much of a different in the U.S. budget, but the observer of the person abusing the food stamp system is not reacting rationally, and I think advocates for the poor need to keep that in mind.

Eyebrow-raising things in the conservative world of this book: he alludes to future wife Usha behaving like an “Ayn Rand heroine” as if we're all familiar with what that is. He cites Bell Curve author Charles Murray (mentioned in Coates's essay, not in a positive way) as a source of wisdom. “Fox News...has always told the truth about Obama's citizenship status and religious views,” write Vance. (Rebuttal from Media Matters.)

As Coates described, it's all about race. And yet, Vance appears to embrace a “color blind” philosophy. He is definitely not woke, to use the parlance of our times. “[Obama] conducts himself with a confidence that comes from knowing that the modern American meritocracy was built for him,” says Vance. “Holy shit” reads my note on the highlight of this quote. This isn't just turning a blind eye to the effect of race, it's actively asserting, essentially, that racism is not a thing in modern America. His description of meeting his future wife, Usha, raised my eyebrow. Never in the book does it mention her race or ethnicity. (She's Indian-American.) His immediate obsession (“After a few weeks of flirtations and a single date, I told her that I was in love with her. It violated every rule of modern dating I'd learned as a young man, but I didn't care.”) with her combined with her non-white name creates a story in my mind of a naive white man falling hard for the “exotic” (“She seemed some sort of genetic anomaly” writes Vance) woman. Not sure how he knows her a year before finding out she's single.

“[Obama] feels like an alien to many Middletonians for reasons that have nothing to do with skin color,” says Vance. Ta-Nehisi Coates begs to differ.

I read this book before his political foray, and this book made me realize, the apathy and doomerism so prevalent in Mexican politics is here in the U.S. too. I now understand why so many people don't vote. A life of no ambitions, past triumphs washed away, but also their leaders, who have forgotten of those who played a critical role in westward expansion.

I didn't care much for this book. Most memoirs are self-indulgent to a certain extent, but this one I found painfully so. He knows that he was lucky to “escape” the hillbilly culture, although I'm not sure he really has. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to realize that the permanent underclass, including hillbillies, are useful tools of our society, and have always existed. Don't waste your time with this book. Instead, read WHITE TRASH, THE 400 YEAR HISTORY OF CLASS IN AMERICA by Nancy Isenberg, which is a more objective study of the subject. Vance also glosses over the problem of race in the community he comes from, and that cannot be ignored. (He betrays his own attitudes by seemingly blaming Barack Obama for being too smart, too well-dressed, etc., to appeal to the hillbilly population, even though BO also came from humble beginnings. That doesn't ring true.)

This did not live up to its hype.