Wow. Hillbilly Elegy is the kind of book you sit down to read, and then you finish in one sitting. Then you write about it online, recommending it to everyone. That’s the process I followed, at least.
Hillbilly Elegy is a deeply personal memoir on the social, regional, and class decline of the white working class: the hillbillies, rednecks, white trash, name your pejorative (or compliment, depending on where you’re from and how you say it). J.D. Vance grew up in a poor Rust Belt town in Ohio and an Appalachian town in Kentucky. He writes about extreme social decay – the decline of religious institutions, families, and schools, perennial mistrust in the government and media, and of hillbilly customs like alcoholism, drug addiction (his mother tried everything from pain medication to heroin), and violence. He details economic decay endemic to the loss of steel factory jobs, residential income segregation (clustering the poor), and culturally systemic individual failures. The story of his childhood, his hometown, and of the white working class is one of misery.
Nevertheless, he made it out. Despite the harrowing statistics, he achieved the American Dream. After graduation, he served in the Marines, attended Ohio State University, and earned his law degree from Yale Law School. Vance attributes his shocking success to the strong familial support and encouragement of his grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw. Neither Mamaw or Papaw received any formal education, but they understood its importance and the value of hard work. Indeed, without Mamaw and Papaw, Vance evidently believes he would not be who he is today. He worries – and I worry – for the kids who do not have a Mamaw and Papaw to motivate, love and protect them. I should not make Mamaw and Papaw out to be perfect, however; Mamaw is often characterized as a mean hillbilly (she once set Papaw on fire for coming home drunk), but she loved her babies and wanted what was best for them.
“We began to view much of our fellow working class with mistrust. Most of us were struggling to get by, but we made do, worked hard, and hoped for a better life. But a large minority was content to live off the dole.”
–Hillbilly Elegy, Page 139
As for white working class citizens who don’t achieve the American Dream, Vance has searing words: stop blaming President Obama and President Bush, the elite, and the government for your own personal failures. Own up to your laziness and fix your culture. This is harsh, but it’s appropriate coming from a cultural insider rather than an outsider. Vance worked as a grocery clerk in high school and he details with frustration how people gamed the welfare system by buying packs of soda with food stamps and then sell them at a discount for cash. All the while, many of these same white people espouse the values of hard work even though they are, by every definition, lazy themselves. For example, Vance mentions a fellow who quit working because he did not like waking up early and then next day, on Facebook, he blamed his abysmal career prospects on the “Obama economy.” Vance argues the quickness to blame everyone but themselves is engrained in hillbilly culture and is something that must change if regions like Appalachia hope to experience upward social and economic mobility.
Parker’s Perspective
Vance’s writing is compassionate, educational, and riveting. I recommend Hillbilly Elegy because the thorough sociological analysis presented in its pages help the reader understand the white rage that had a large impact on the ascendancy of President-elect Donald Trump. Further, at a time when maligning cultural “bubbles” is popular, we should be pushing ourselves to learn about people, groups, and ideas that are foreign to us. I am from an impoverished, culturally conservative, small town of 4,500 people in northeast Texas. I have witnessed the struggles of the working class – albeit not in the same manner as Vance, who lived them – and I want to ameliorate their conditions, creating an environment in which they can thrive. Right now, in my hometown of Pittsburg and in Vance’s hometowns of Middletown, Ohio and Jackson, Kentucky, people are not thriving. I do not know how to address many of the issues faced by the working class, but I do know that it will begin with empathy and understanding. It will begin with understanding the working class as people rather than an underclass, and that is why I recommend Hillbilly Elegy.
Get your copy of J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy today
