Hillbilly Elegy (Book)

JD Vance wrote about Appalachian values, his Kentucky family, and growing up in Middletown, Ohio.

JD Vance wrote about Appalachian values, his Kentucky family, and growing up in Middletown, Ohio. Some of it is personal about his family's struggles, and a lot of it is about how his issues were the socioeconomic and cultural norms for many in either the Appalachians or Rust Belt working class.

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~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2022-05-08

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a bestselling 2016 memoir by J. D. Vance. It was turned into a film directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams - that got horrible reviews from reviewers, but audiences like its raw grit.

Vance describes his upbringing and family background (commentary on hillbilly culture mixed with rust belt blue colar), while growing up in the city of Middletown, Ohio -- a town in the orbit of Cincinnati. A family history of poverty and low-paying jobs, how people get trapped in abuse, substance abuse, a chain of step-dads, the failures of Social Services -- and his paths out of the cycle of dependence and dysfunction, to eventually graduating from Ohio State University and Yale Law School, and why he thinks so many people are having a hard time escaping.

Since he takes barbs at everything wrong in the world, including people making poor choices and not taking responsibility for their own lives, abuse of welfare systems, the failures of social services (from food stamps, welfare, to child protective services), schools, and why he lived through Appalachia's overall political swing from strong Democratic Party to strong Republican affiliations. How the military (Marines) helped him. It touches on his religion and values, and the hypocrisy of some on religious issues. It has a little bit of both sides on many topics. It's the cathartic self-therapy of someone that dealt with less than perfect conditions, and seems to be both coping, humble bragging, and reflecting.

There were some parallels to my life (having multiple Dads, a narcissistic Mom, physical abuse, familial "drama", and having to learn a fair amount of "how not to's" from my family), it rang pretty true and interesting. It's fairly agnostic and lets people take what they want from the stories. Not really beating you over the head with any one agenda.

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J.D. Vance
Author, venture capitalist, conservative commentator, politician. Hated by the left for not being a poser that their side has.

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