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A review by dinosaboardserenity
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
2.0
less hillbilly and more low class in Kentucky-Kentucky-Ohio. The author seems incredibly ignorant that many of his "hillbilly" claims are ones that can be attributed to thousands of small towns across the Great Plains and Midwest. The author touches briefly on the socioeconomic issues of manufacturing towns, but focuses more on his experiences of abusive adults, what it is like to love someone who verbally abuses you and living with the belief that this is normal. A lack of education, manners and acceptance of that abuse is called the region's culture.
That being said, the book is not boring. It is primarily anecdotal in nature, the narrator has trouble with appropriate placement of pauses on audio and worth the read for anyone who enjoys memoirs of growing up in a nontraditional family.
The dust jacket claims there is portrayal of class decline, which I did not find. The author's grandparents were wealthy enough to own a home, one not inherited from generations before them, live next door, has 3 meals a day from a supermarket, the ability to tide a bus to school and many other situations you will not find in the true poverty of the Appalachian region. The reader is told that the region is struck with true poverty but aside from one story about a broken house with 8 pairs of eyes watching him, there isn't much to be found. In fact, the author and main character experiences the opposite, going from low class to a lawyer.
That being said, the book is not boring. It is primarily anecdotal in nature, the narrator has trouble with appropriate placement of pauses on audio and worth the read for anyone who enjoys memoirs of growing up in a nontraditional family.
The dust jacket claims there is portrayal of class decline, which I did not find. The author's grandparents were wealthy enough to own a home, one not inherited from generations before them, live next door, has 3 meals a day from a supermarket, the ability to tide a bus to school and many other situations you will not find in the true poverty of the Appalachian region. The reader is told that the region is struck with true poverty but aside from one story about a broken house with 8 pairs of eyes watching him, there isn't much to be found. In fact, the author and main character experiences the opposite, going from low class to a lawyer.