''Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis'' is a bestselling 2016
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...
by future Ohio Senator
J. D. Vance
James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August 2, 1984) is an American venture capitalist, author, and politician who is a United States senator-elect from Ohio, elected in 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he came to prominence with ...
about the
Appalachian values of his
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
family and the social and socioeconomic problems of his hometown of
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metropo ...
, where his mother's parents moved when they were young.
In 2020 it was adapted into a
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
directed by
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
and starring
Glenn Close
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
and
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...
.
Summary
Vance describes his upbringing and family background while growing up in the city of
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metropo ...
. He writes about a family history of poverty and low-paying,
physical jobs that have since disappeared or worsened in their guarantees, and compares this life with his perspective after leaving it.
Though Vance was raised in Middletown, his mother and her family were from
Breathitt County, Kentucky
Breathitt County ( ) is a county in the eastern Appalachian portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 13,718. Its county seat is Jackson. The county was formed in 1839 and was named for John B ...
. Their
Appalachian values include traits like loyalty and love of country, despite social issues including violence and verbal abuse. He recounts his grandparents' alcoholism and abuse, and his unstable mother's history of drug addictions and failed relationships. Vance's grandparents eventually reconciled and became his de facto guardians. He was pushed by his tough but loving grandmother, and eventually Vance was able to leave Middletown to attend
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
and
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
.
Alongside his personal history, Vance raises questions such as the responsibility of his family and people for their own misfortune. Vance blames
hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...
culture and its supposed encouragement of
social rot. Comparatively, he feels that economic insecurity plays a much lesser role. To lend credence to his argument, Vance regularly relies on personal experience. As a grocery store checkout cashier, he watched
welfare recipients talk on cell phones although the working Vance could not afford one. His resentment of those who seemed to profit from poor behavior while he struggled, especially combined with his values of personal responsibility and tough love, is presented as a microcosm of the reason for Appalachia's overall political swing from strong
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
to strong
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
affiliations. Likewise, he recounts stories intended to showcase a lack of
work ethic
Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination o ...
including the story of a man who quit after expressing dislike over his job's hours and posted to social media about the "
Obama economy", as well as a co-worker, with a pregnant girlfriend, who would skip work.
Publication
The book was popularized by an interview with the author published by ''
The American Conservative
''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...
'' in late July 2016. The volume of requests briefly disabled the website. Halfway through the next month, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that the title had remained in the top ten
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
bestsellers since the interview's publication.
Vance credits his Yale contract law professor
Amy Chua
Amy Lynn Chua (born October 26, 1962), also known as "the Tiger Mom", is an American lawyer, legal scholar, and writer. She is the John M. Duff Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School with an expertise in international business transactions, law ...
as the "authorial godmother" of the book.
Reception
The book reached the top of
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list in August 2016 and January 2017.
''American Conservative'' contributor and blogger
Rod Dreher
Raymond Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American writer and editor living in Budapest, Hungary. He is a senior editor and blogger at ''The American Conservative'' and author of several books, including ''H ...
expressed admiration for ''Hillbilly Elegy'', saying that Vance "draws conclusions…that may be hard for some people to take. But Vance has earned the right to make those judgments. This was his life. He speaks with authority that has been extremely hard won." The following month, Dreher posted about why liberals, Dreher states, loved the book. ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' columnist and editor of ''Commentary''
John Podhoretz
John Mordecai Podhoretz (; born April 18, 1961) is an American writer. He is the editor of ''Commentary'' magazine, a columnist for the ''New York Post'', the author of several books on politics, and a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald ...
described the book as among the year's most provocative. The book was positively received by conservatives such as ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
'' columnist
Mona Charen
Mona Charen Parker (; born February 25, 1957) is a columnist, journalist, and political commentator in the United States. She has written three books: ''Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First'' (200 ...
and ''National Review'' editor and ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' columnist
Reihan Salam
Reihan Morshed Salam (; born 29 December 1979) is a conservative American political commentator, columnist and author who since 2019 has been president of the Manhattan Institute. He was previously executive editor of ''National Review'', a column ...
.
By contrast, other journalists criticized Vance for generalizing too much from his personal upbringing in suburban Ohio.
Jared Yates Sexton of
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
criticized Vance for his "damaging rhetoric" and for endorsing policies used to "gut the poor." He argues that Vance "totally discounts the role racism played in the white working class's opposition to President Obama." Sarah Jones of ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'' mocked Vance as "the false prophet of
Blue America," dismissing him as "a flawed guide to this world" and the book as little more than "a list of myths about
welfare queen
A "welfare queen" is a derogatory term used in the United States to refer to women who allegedly misuse or collect excessive welfare payments through fraud, child endangerment, or manipulation. Reporting on welfare fraud began during the early 196 ...
s repackaged as a primer on the white working class."
Historian Bob Hutton wrote in
''Jacobin'' that Vance's argument relied on
circular logic
Circular may refer to:
* The shape of a circle
* ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega
* Circular letter (disambiguation)
** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement
* Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy
* Circula ...
and
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
, ignored existing scholarship on Appalachian poverty, and was "primarily a work of self-congratulation."
Sarah Smarsh
Sarah Smarsh (born 1980) is an American journalist and nonfiction writer.
Background
Smarsh was born in rural Kansas and grew up on farms and in small towns. Her family moved frequently, and she attended eight schools before she reached ninth ...
with
''The Guardian'' noted that "most downtrodden whites are not conservative male Protestants from Appalachia" and called into question Vance's generalizations about the white working class from his personal upbringing.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that Vance's direct confrontation of a social taboo is admirable regardless of whether the reader agrees with his conclusions. The newspaper writes that Vance's subject is despair, and his argument is more generous in that it blames
fatalism
Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...
and
learned helplessness
Learned helplessness is the behavior exhibited by a subject after enduring repeated aversive stimuli beyond their control. It was initially thought to be caused by the subject's acceptance of their powerlessness, by way of their discontinuing atte ...
rather than
indolence.
A 2017
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...
report noted that, "JD Vance's ''Hillbilly Elegy'' became a national bestseller for its raw, emotional portrait of growing up in and eventually out of a poor rural community riddled by drug addiction and instability." Vance's account anecdotally confirmed the report's conclusion that family stability is essential to upward mobility. The book provoked a response in the form of an anthology, ''Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy'', edited by Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll. The essays in the volume criticize Vance for making broad generalizations and reproducing myths about poverty.
A key reason for ''Hillbilly Elegy''
's widespread popularity following its publication in 2016 was its role in explaining
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's
rise
Rise or RISE may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world
* Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3''
* Rise Kujikawa, a video ...
to the top of the Republican Party. In particular, it purported to explain why
white working class voters became attracted to Trump as a
political leader
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. Vance himself offered commentary on how his book provides perspective on why a voter from the "
hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...
" demographic would support Trump. Although he does not mention Trump in the book, Vance openly criticized the now-former president while discussing his memoir in interviews following its release. However, Vance walked these comments back when he joined the
2022 U.S. Senate race in Ohio and now openly embraces
Trump ideology.
Film adaptation
A film adaptation was released in select theaters in the United States on November 11, 2020, then digitally on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on November 24. It was directed by
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
and stars
Glenn Close
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
,
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...
,
Gabriel Basso
Louis Gabriel Basso III (born December 11, 1994) is an American actor, known for his roles in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''The Big C (TV series), The Big C'', the 2011 science fiction film ''Super 8 (2011 film), Super 8'', and th ...
and
Haley Bennett
Haley Loraine Keeling (born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Haley Bennett, is an American actress. She made her film debut in the romantic comedy '' Music and Lyrics'' (2007) and has since appeared in films such as '' The Equalizer'' ( ...
. Although a few days of filming were planned for the book's setting of Middletown, Ohio, much of the filming in the summer of 2019 was in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Clayton and
Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...
, using the code name "IVAN."
References
External links
*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Vance on ''Hillbilly Elegy'', October 23, 2016
{{Portal bar, Books, Society, United States
2016 non-fiction books
American memoirs
HarperCollins books
English-language books
Sociology books
Books about Ohio
Memoirs adapted into films
Appalachian culture in Ohio
Rural society in the United States
Middletown, Ohio
Memoirs about alcoholism