Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (book)

Yeah that's right! I read sometimes. I tend to enjoy non-fiction more than fiction and this one was recommended by a friend. When we hear stories of abject poverty and horrible home-life (in USA) we tend to think of certain demographics but not so much about poor white people with no chance at a future. This book addresses precisely that and how one person (J.D. Vance - the author) was able to get out of that environment and become very successful even though in his younger years he had an awful lot working against him and didn't really even try academically.

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There is a part of the US called Appalachia, and it extends, as you might expect, down the Appalachian mountain range near the east coast. These towns were at one time thriving areas of mines for coal and other minerals, but as the mines dried up the jobs did as well and the people who lived there were never paid enough to really have much mobility and for the most part they just willingly participate in what author J. D. Vance describes as "societal rot."

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Vance paints a picture of strong family loyalty but one that is slipping as single motherhood is on the rise since his generation. A child of a single-parent household himself, he had the added problematic situation of having a drug addicted mother who was in a variety of self-destructive relationships throughout his life. He regales us with the heartbreaking stories of basically being raised by his grandparents, not having much opportunity in life, and very little motivation or encouragement from the relatively horrible educational environments that exist in these communities.

He says that it was "as if we were being prepped for a lifetime of living off welfare."

J.D. describes how it wasn't until some sort of discipline was brought into his life by way of joining the armed forces that he really "got his shit together" and later in life was able to use his military grants to go to Ohio State University and later to attend Yale Law School. This is so exceptionally uncommon in the hillbilly lifestyle that he may as well have said he was the only person from that area with super-powers.

I don't want to spoil the book too much because I think it is an exceptionally good read. It was a real page-turner for me and I didn't want to go to sleep because I was saying to myself (oh, just one more chapter!) This is incredibly rare for me as I don't often get roped in by the written word that easily. I can think of only a handful of times that it has happened and this book was one of them.

I have said this a long time ago. You don't have to spend money to enjoy this. If you live in North America (sorry for those of you that don't - I don't) you can go to your local library and in many states if they don't already have the book in stock they will either have it brought over in the mail, or they will buy it so that you can read it. Libraries are so amazing in the U.S. and so few people use them.

#getyerreadon