Hillbilly Elegy: The Internationally Bestselling Memoir from Trump’s Future Vice-President of the United States

"I feel bad for rating this book so low because it’s not like the book was bad, I was just extremely bored the whole time. I had to drag myself by the hair through this one and am glad I’m done with it. The autobiography had a few points of interest that were sadly over shadowed by all the boringness inbetween."

"A deeply personal story about a national crisis that can feel abstract and unsolveable when told through news stories. Powerful memoir. "

"J.D. Vance’s remarkable journey from his self described “hillbilly” origins garnered my respect and interest, but not my sympathy. For one thing he insists on the uniqueness of a “hillbilly culture” which looks to me like any subgroup immured in generational poverty. He cites the ingredients himself: employers that profit from cheap labor but then pull up stakes, a lack of social capital, and a resultant culture of helplessness and despair leading to family violence, poor decision making and rampant addiction. He conflates the rural white poor with the white working class, which are two very different things, yet he implicitly denies the similarities between his hillbilly relatives and Southern and urban African Americans. He is also reluctant to acknowledge the racism of his clan, attributing their distrust and rumor mongering about Obama to the president ‘s “elitism”, (funny that they didn’t express surprise resentment about say, the Bushes) and downplaying a relative’s ostracism from their family for bearing a child with a black man.<br/><br/>Vance ‘s political blinders are similarly hard to take. As a former Marine, he bristles at stereotypes of the military as primarily low income with few other options, yet he acknowledges that in America’s unwinnable wars, “a disproportionate share of the fighters came from our neighborhood “. (P 189) So, maybe not such a stereotype?<br/><br/>The authors are entitled foray into Trumpist politics makes it harder to see his “elegy” as anything but a self-serving evasion of the truth.<br/>"

"This book started off a slow burn, but ended really well. All of the information learned throughout the book was wrapped up very nicely. Overall an excellent read that I feel most can benefit from reading."

"A more appropriate title could have been “Am I Oppressed? : A White Man’s First Brush with Inequity”"

"J.D. Vance got the timing just right on this one. The entire liberal establishment is scrambling to figure out how Trump won the election and "Hillbilly Elegy" offers a coherent, empathetic, and deeply personal narrative about who some of these Trump voters are and what their lives are like. Anyone wondering why Trump won should read this book.<br/><br/>As a Kentuckian and a Yalie myself, I'm more familiar than most with the two worlds that Vance writes about. I was born and raised on the fringes of true hillbilly territory (in Louisville, which voted for Hillary). My mother's mother's family came over from Ireland and my mom was the first in her family to go to college. The hillbilly phrases ("too big for your britches!") peppered throughout Vance's narrative brought back fond memories of my childhood. The importance of family loyalty was a constant presence as well - "You never talk about family to some stranger. Never." "Hillbilly Elegy" gave me a fresh perspective and a framework for thinking about some aspects of the culture I grew up in.<br/><br/>On the other hand, me, my dad, and his dad all went to Yale. My experience growing up was completely different than Vance's - married parents, a stable home, no violence or substance abuse, and no financial struggles. Vance shocked me with the poverty and desperation that exist just an hour's drive from where I grew up. I had always known that things were rough in the hills, but I had no idea quite how tough things really were. Mountain Dew mouth - for real? The rough justice and extralegal violence that were constantly present in Vance's life astonished me. I was also struck by his observations on the deep pessimism of hillbilly culture - their lives haven't been getting better and kids are often worse-off than their parents.<br/><br/>His chapters on his time at Yale Law made for fascinating reading. When I was there, I too noticed that "for all of the Ivy League’s obsession with diversity, virtually everyone — black, white, Jewish, Muslim, whatever — comes from intact families who never worry about money." Vance's observations on the social signaling rituals of the upper class startled me with their clarity and obviousness, but I hadn't really noticed this game-within-a-game before. The professional world disqualifies vast parts of the population before they even have a chance. Side note: I found his glowing description of Amy Chua's mentorship sharply at odds with the general public view of her.<br/><br/>In the end, Vance says that his fellow hillbillies have to take responsibility for solving their own problems without the help of the government. While Vance makes a criticism of hillbilly culture and mindset, I was struck by his community's lack of values-instilling institutions - plummeting church attendance, failing schools, lack of civic institutions, etc. I was also surprised that he brushes the usual macro-economic excuses aside too - and his anecdotes about young, able-bodied men getting fired from job after job for sheer laziness was pretty jarring. I'm not sure he's wrong, although I don't think globalization and the hollowing out of industrial America has done the hillbillies any favors either.<br/><br/>Worth a read - certainly useful for humanizing the faceless Trump voters that everyone seems to be wondering about.<br/><br/>Full review and highlights at <a href="http://books.max-nova.com/hillbilly-elegy">http://books.max-nova.com/hillbilly-elegy</a>"

"This was a pretty good read. Now I'll watch the Netflix movie and compare the two ;)"

"I appreciated how this books gives us insights into an overlooked population in the US. The last couple chapters of the book were the strongest in my opinion because he really dug into the root of the problems, why overall solutions aren't going to help (and will sometimes harm), and how the everyday person can help. The book didn't blow me away, but I feel like it's a valuable read. Shout out to Mamaw for being a force who helped break the cycle."

"Great book but make sure you read other books that are in response to this book such as Getting Wrong about Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte. Always good to see both sides to a story. "

"Eye opening to a side of blue collar America you never really see. No matter how far we come our roots bare the scars of our past."