Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Hillbilly Elegy

a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Tulsa City-County Library.
Oct 13, 2016TheresaAJ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Although the author is only 32, he's lived through a lifetime of hardship in an Appalachian family that moves between Middletown, Ohio and Jackson, Kentucky. He shares the stories of his grandparents who moved north to find jobs during World War II. As the years move on, the jobs disappear and are replaced by poverty, drug use, and chaotic family life. Now a graduate of Yale University Law School, Vance unravels what it took to escape poverty -- stability in his grandmother's home, a few teachers who cared, the Marine Corps, and a few individuals who taught him the social skills needed to maneuver in upper-class America. He is quick to point out that the strands that make up poverty in America are complex and comprised of both cultural and individual strands. As his preface points out, "I've known many welfare queens and they are all white." I found this book gave me some insight into those who most ardently support Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.