I haven't gotten my hands on this book yet because it's been so damn popular. Both a memoir and unsentimental criticism of America's working poor, Vance's book has been repeatedly linked to "the Trump voter" and is a demystification of a social class which has been ignored for far too long.
Country Mouse City Mouse Country Mouse City Mouse JD has told you the story of his life. He has not toned it down as not to offend your sensibilities. If Mamaw and Papaw cursed up a storm, so be it. That’s life. He told you what they said and how they acted. This is real life, not fiction. Why should he change it? He is trying to get a point across. This is the Hillbilly Culture. This is how he grew up and how thousands of other children have grown up with many more to join the ranks.
Thank you, Mr. Vance. I’d tip my hat to you if I had one, but I’ll give you 5 stars instead. Thank you for baring your soul.
Hillbilly elegy A quick read and fascinating. After reading it I understood a bit more about how family and culture shape one's life - for better or for worse. And the importance of a stable loving presence who reinforces a ray of hope,.
hillbilly elegy This book makes me want to both smile and cry... seemingly at the same time. It's a gut wrenching look at growing up in total dysfunction, but also about personal triumph tinged with profound sadness. The hillbilly culture that has crept in (not) and has slayed the lower middle-class (not yet) because of globalism and the rust belt (also not); people think this is new somehow. Read Harry Caudill's Night Comes to the Cumberlands (1962)! How about my experience counseling some of the kids who hit the "big time" and had come to Eastern Michigan U. to become accountants for their family's small coal operation (1973)! Check out the shoestring operation at HealthWagon.com (mobile nurses/doctors patching up some holes in the health care of Appalachia (2005+). This is not a problem that's going away and is plaguing even more people; see where the opioid abuse problem started. And for the sake of Americans, think about it.. and not so much about when your next I-phone is coming out.
Hillbilly elegy: a memoir of a family and culture A fascinating look into a segment of American society. This book is a mixture of biography and social commentary.