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Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
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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.
Critic reviews
"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
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-04-19
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
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- Richard Mayne
- 20-05-20
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
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- Keith
- 11-12-20
Well written and very well read.
Great insights into a personal life and reflection on sociological circumstances that have powerful influence on our lives. So pleased that JD has shared this with us.
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- Craig Bradford
- 02-03-20
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Such a fresh view of what it means to be privileged. I found myself laughing out loud throughout and then the next minute thinking deeply about some of the tragic stories throughout. I highly recommend this book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-12-20
Highly recommend
Engaging and informative. Touching and edgy. I didn't expect it to but this book has actually helped me understand the actions and behaviours of a loved one who grew up in hardship.
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- Amazon Kunde
- 28-03-18
So much more than just an autobiography
Absolutely love this interesting and inspiring book that comes with some value lessons. Great listen that is read by the author himself.
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- Rui Ribeiro
- 08-12-19
Surprisingly addictive and interesting
I had seen the book reviews and the book didn't turn our exactly as I expected. With each chapter ending, i found myself eager to start the next and although I am not very much into personal memoirs, this wasn't a factor with this book, which is a credit to the author and the book.
The book narrates the childhood of the author and it's a good depiction of many of the difficulties faced in may families in the US rust belt. The book is not so much about self bragging but about how the author managed to get out of a vicious circle of low opportunities, drugs and alcohol and terrible parenting, to become an Ivy League graduate (as some other similar books end up being), but is almost a bit distant description of what happened and how important the author's grandmother was in allowing him to break that vicious circle. In its clear and vivid description of his early years, there are important lessons that can be drawn to drive public policies to provide more ways out of similar vicious cycles that end up in lack of opportunities and lives miserably wasted and lost in rural America.
Highly recommended.
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- Bee
- 30-12-16
Unexpectedly good
Really enjoyed this. Not an academic text but an insight into a culture I know little about from a personal point of view. Explains a bit more about why Trump is so popular. A good combination of sympathy, empathy and realism and a reminder of what children do and don't need. I would have liked a a few other perspectives eg if the author had asked his mother why she thought she behaved in the way she did, but maybe that's another book.
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- Adrian J. Smith
- 06-12-19
Thought provoking and harrowing
People often look for something high stakes and far fetched to stir the soul, but this tale of everyday life of ordinary folk on the Appellations elicits emotions one struggles to describe.
One appears both awe struck and shocked at the nature of Hill Billy justice (the harsh retaliation for insulting a family member), despairing at the misery caused by drug addiction, touched by the personal tragedy encountered, and stirred to a sense of indignation at how family trauma dims outlooks.
Vance's personal story is a story best told by himself, it's a remarkable story, and any attempt to summarize it within a review is likely to detract from the story itself.
However, the person's story draws attention to the macro issues that are overlooked by identity politics.
Vance rhapsodizes Rustbelt America, an area in industrial decline which has birthed single parent families, revolving door stepfathers, drug addiction, depression, and psychological breakdown.
It's a harrowing portrait and a story that needs to be told.
Yes, white folk are on welfare and have it hard. Yes, success is the result of many variables aligning, and No, not everyone can succeed.
Among the insights Vance offers is the notion that Americans pin too much hope on College, and No, not everyone can make it to College, and how simply making ends meet in small town America can be tough.
Vance points out that far too much emotional energy is given toward blame in its various forms, from government to fat cat corporations and not enough emphasis is given to personal shortcomings.
An additional bonus is the feeling one gets as to why formerly Democrat dominated Appellation America came to despise the elite Liberals embodied by the Clintonistas and the like. It cannot be explained through simple insights and knowledge points, it's something the needs to be felt.
Overall, a harrowing tale, something one should read to both understand and feel Rustbelt America.
Overall, this is a memoir that is felt more than anything, and heartfelt it is. Truly unforgettable.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-12-21
Fascinating
A brilliant insight to problems so common and yet so very difficult to deal with. I’m Irish but the theme is universal. Food for thought indeed
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