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

J.D. Vance

Start date: July 15, 2017

Finish date: August 1, 2017

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Mary Anne

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Apr 26, 2018 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2018, non-fiction, e-books, memoir-biography, american-fiction, autobiography, mtbr-challenge-2018

This is the author's autobiography where he describes the Appalachian values of his upbringing and their relation to the social problems of his hometown. ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2017 Renata rated it liked it

What can I say? It's a crazy and scary world out there, and not just for hillbillies. Some of us break out. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2020 Despond rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

For a person like me who knew very little about hillbillies, this is a good starting point. As a minority, I can relate to some of what JD experienced growing up. Thr book is written in first person but also offers some of the dialogue that happened, many of them reflect the crass language they used. If language is an issue then you will not like it. It was difficult to get into the book at the beginning. It gets a bit predictable. I enjoyed the ending when he gets out of Ohio, in particular his ...more

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Feb 06, 2017 Jeanne rated it liked it

Shelves: 2017-reads

Part memoir, part sociological study. My own time in Kentucky predates Vance's by over 40 years. That means I don't relate to his prescription drug infested world or his foul mouthed "Mamaw." What I can relate to is fierce family loyalty and the necessity to leave an economically devastated area in order to thrive or even survive. The difference in our stories is that in the early 1950's there were towns and cities to escape to that promised decent paying blue collar jobs. And there was hope. ...more

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