Greg answers “This is a hard read. I am 53 years old...”

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

This is a hard read. I am 53 years old and just finished this book yesterday. I have cried all day yesterday, all night woke with nightmares and am crying now. I know this is for questions. The only question I have is... does it ever get ok?

Greg Atheena, I don't understand how you found this book painful. I'd say, with a gift-limit of $300 per child at Christmas, Vance's family lived fairly we…moreAtheena, I don't understand how you found this book painful. I'd say, with a gift-limit of $300 per child at Christmas, Vance's family lived fairly well, and he even says so at the beginning of the book. I THOUGHT I grew up middle-class in NC. But my childhood limit for gift receiving was $100, and I thought that was a lot.(less)

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