This review was submitted by one of our talented teen virtual volunteers.
Written by Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy is a touching memoir that focuses on his family’s Appalachian values and the socioeconomic problems facing the Rust Belt. This American Dream story is profoundly moving and thought provoking.
Hillbilly Elegy begins in postwar America on a hopeful note: Vance’s grandparents are “dirt poor and madly in love,” and move from Jackson, Kentucky, to Middletown, Ohio, a town with a rapidly growing industrialized economy, hoping to escape the dreadful poverty that plagues Jackson.
In Middletown, however, the Vance family continues to struggle with abuse, poverty, alcoholism, and trauma, issues that have become synonymous with life in Appalachia. Vance addresses these issues honestly and compassionately. Offering a host of colorful characters and deep insight on the problems that face the white working class in the Appalachians and the Rust Belt, Hillbilly Elegy shows what striving for upward mobility feels like.
On the heels of Hurricane Helene, which has devastated the Appalachian region, and in the final stretch towards the next Presidential election, Hillbilly Elegy is an especially timely read. --Olivia R, a PCPL Virtual Volunteer
