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  • Hillbilly Elegy

  • A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
  • By: J. D. Vance
  • Narrated by: J. D. Vance
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (885 ratings)
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Hillbilly Elegy cover art

Hillbilly Elegy

By: J. D. Vance
Narrated by: J. D. Vance
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Summary

J. D. Vance grew up in the hills of Kentucky. His family and friends were the people most of the world calls rednecks, hillbillies or white trash. In this deeply moving memoir, Vance tells the story of his family’s demons and of America’s problem with generational neglect. 

How his mother struggled against, but never fully escaped, the legacies of abuse, alcoholism, poverty and trauma. How his grandparents, ‘dirt poor and in love’, gave everything for their children to chase the American dream. How Vance beat the odds to graduate from Yale Law School. And how America came to abandon and then condescend to its white working classes, until they reached breaking point.   

Artwork used with permission from Netflix, Inc.  

©2016 J. D. Vance (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"The memoir gripping America.... Vividly articulates the despair and disillusionment of blue-collar America." ( Sunday Times)
"Vance's description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history." (David Brooks, New York Times)
"A beautiful memoir but it is equally a work of cultural criticism about white working-class America.... [Vance] offers a compelling explanation for why it's so hard for someone who grew up the way he did to make it...a riveting book." ( Wall Street Journal)
"Quietly thoughtful, poignant...while the political timeliness of Hillbilly Elegy is undeniable, Vance truly shines when he takes us with him 'down the holler' into an America we thought we knew - until we realized how little of it we truly understood." ( Huffington Post)
"Looking back on his youth, and all he fled, yields a frank, unsentimental, harrowing memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. It's a superb book given an extra layer of importance by its political reverberations: When Vance returns home these days, he sees yard after yard festooned with Trump signs." ( NY Post)
"You will not read a more important book about America this year." ( Economist)

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What listeners say about Hillbilly Elegy

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

SUPERB, insightful and addictive - a must listen

In the wake of this new Brexit and Trump reality, I've been looking for books, documentaries and articles to try and understand more about all the viewpoints and reasons for voting either way, regardless of which side of the fence I personally fall - my overwhelming sense is one of a deep lack of communication and consideration between any one part of society and the others.

This audiobook delivers insight and sensitivity in SPADES and I'm so glad I listened. The story of JD Vance's upbringing, childhood community and transition into adulthood is generously and unflinchingly told, and interwoven with just enough detail on the wider political and socioeconomic history of "rust belt" America. The overall impression is of an almost dynastic family saga all the more affecting for being true - I think Anne Tyler must have a long lost nephew from Kentucky, if I were JD Vance I'd be demanding a DNA test!

Most of all, it's a really compelling listen and I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so thoroughly as I did! Top quality both in the writing and the narration. It can be touch and go when authors narrate their own audio, but Vance does an exceptional job.

A very timely book which deserves all its accolades. Don't hesitate!

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Good book, OK performance

The book is OK, not great. The author's reading of it is OK, not good. It took half the book before I got used to his monotonous voice and relentless reading style.

The story is OK, I guess, it's an interesting personal story. What made this book so disappointing was that it got such rave reviews it got when it came out and it just didn't hold up. I don't know why it was ever held up as such a great and important book.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Profoundly moving.

Though from England, I recognise so much of this book in my home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. It's a universal story of poverty and communities in crisis.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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An important story

Schools, social workers, courts, medical professionals, employers - all have a responsibility to our children and their families in distress; but as JD says, it's the parents of these children that bear the biggest responsibility. When those parents falter, we have to be there.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A story of survival and the power of acceptance

I read the book after talking to a colleague about childhood trauma. I’m always amazed at the universality of the theme of forgiveness sets us free. A very clear, concise description of experience, strength and hope in a young man. I come from Glasgow and in some way I suppose I’m a Scots relative of this hillybilly boy - Just the other side of the water, but I understood every word and they resonated. I can’t help feeling the twelve step programs that he must have been exposed to as a child did in some way seep into his ongoing recovery from ACE. Thank you. Great listen. Somewhat similar to Angela’s Ashes only I feel with a much more contemplative and well educated hero who understands very well the demons of his culture. Well worth a read.

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Vigilantism

The writer seems determined to titillate with tales of how his family believed in taking "justice" into their own hasty hands. I am swiftly returning this audiobook.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • A
  • 05-10-16

Inspiring fascinating story

What did you like most about Hillbilly Elegy?

The candid writing style and level of detail about the main and auxillary characters. As well as it's ability to act as a window into a type of life which seems very alien from those you often meet.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hillbilly Elegy?

Any of the stories which involved Mamal. Sounded like an amazing woman.

Any additional comments?

Absolutely recommend for those who are interested in the social changes our societies are going through as well as the challenges public policy makers have for the future.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

best nonfiction book I've read

the reality of it was just the spice this book needed. important read for everyone who wants to understand America and, to be honest, the world's almost poor.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Explained a lot about the rust belt in America.

No problem getting this book read...was facinated from beginning to the end. Explains life for the struggling middle white Americans through a very understable journey. JDVance carries us through each element of Hillbilly life from a micro and macro perspective. Read this and you will understand why the all American dream isnt available to everyone.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Really enjoyed this

I enjoyed JDs recounting of his lifes journey thus far. The lessons are a lot more universal that he may recognise.

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2 people found this helpful