Sandy answers “After reading this book, I find that any...”

Angela Mogin asked this question about Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis:

After reading this book, I find that any empahty I might have had for the people depicted in the book has disappeared. They seem self-destructive in the extreme. Does anyone else feel that way?

Sandy I understand your question very much! I appreciate your honesty and hope you continue to search for a way to understanding and empathy.
I felt sad abou…moreI understand your question very much! I appreciate your honesty and hope you continue to search for a way to understanding and empathy.
I felt sad about the suffering discussed in the book probably because I knew someone personally, who when he was eight or nine years old was an extremely talented, athletic, healthy, smart boy. It seemed he had the world waiting for him, but he went the path of early fatherhood, minimum wage jobs/welfare dependency, homelessness, alcohol abuse, obesity. I thought about him a lot while reading this book. His parental circumstances were similar to Vance's.
And as a white person, I feel sad at how disconnected I am to other white people. These divisions are tragic.
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