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cdivish 's review for:
What You Are Getting Wrong about Appalachia
by Elizabeth Catte
When I read Hillbilly Elegy, plenty of it resonated with me. Although I didn’t grow up in Appalachia, my rural Indiana hometown was filled with residents who could trace their roots back a generation or two to the hills of Kentucky. I could connect the people I knew to those detailed in the book.
But it didn’t wholly sit well with me, especially the scolding tone that emerged in later chapters, where he seemed to expect these members of his family to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Now that I’ve read this book, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, I understand better my discomfort with Elegy. Cattle offers a more complete picture of the culture, hardships, and our prejudices concerning these Americans.
But it didn’t wholly sit well with me, especially the scolding tone that emerged in later chapters, where he seemed to expect these members of his family to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Now that I’ve read this book, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia, I understand better my discomfort with Elegy. Cattle offers a more complete picture of the culture, hardships, and our prejudices concerning these Americans.