Matt Wheeler’s Reviews > Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis > Status Update

Vances grandmother may be the only redeeming aspect of this book. Anytime he strays from the family connection, it’s thinly veiled conservative talking points. I appreciate his work ethic, and I know he’s lived through a lot, but... fuck this guy. For someone who “sees so much” he’s incredibly narrow minded.

Homeboy was hurt by Obama’s “guns and religion” comment... boo hoo, you big bitch! For someone who is his own person, you’re awfully passive aggressive, JD.

Vance complains about poor whites settling for anger and blaming the government, but not once did he dispute their claims or false narratives! He plays both sides - like a good conservative would. It feeds an unreality that’s tearing this country apart...

He sticks up for Fox News and never acknowledges their sensationalist headlines. He then lists a bunch of bullshit emails and says “news is confusing! How do we know what’s true?!”

This fucking guy! He mentions all the (untrue) conspiracy theories about Barack Obama... and then pivots to why people feel they’re true and how it’s not racist without ever acknowledging they’re untrue and complete fabrications! You can here his “good ol boy” stump speech now!

Dude begs us to forgive racist tendencies without acknowledging them for what they are! Just because you don’t recognize them...

He’s out of the Corp and onward to college... and more shitty opinions. I’m not the person to write literary essays, but shit like standing up for the “good” pay day lenders while completely ignoring the predatory aspect... come on, JD! You shit on the senators who argue against the lenders for not understanding without acknowledging their viewpoint! Same with the college kid and mocking his facial hair.

Vance has swung back into his societal views. A lot of them I’ve heard from my own family members and people I grew up around. He gives himself a lot of runway for his own shortcomings and has empathy for his own family members... but both seem inconspicuously absent for anyone else.

When he discusses his family dynamics rather than the larger “hillbilly ethos,” I do enjoy Vance’s writing. I see a lot of my own upbringing in his (albeit in Texas and less chaotic - although not always).