Elegia americana

I read this book as an advance galley, long before it became a Thing and I did not read this book because I wanted Vance to explain Trump, though he's somehow been chosen by liberal media as the person to do just that (though the handful of interviews I saw seemed more like Chris Matthews wanted to

Very candid account of growing up disadvantaged and white. The parallels between his demographic and a historically, systematically marginalized Black America are evident. Both populations deserve understanding and empathy, but I tend to think the author thinks his people are somehow more noble. I w Leggi tutto

I grew up in a similar community.... wanted to like this book, but I lost all respect for it because the author didn't discuss the enormous issue of racism in the context of rural white poverty. A cowardly omission.

2016 is the year of Donald Trump, and J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy should be at the top of every politico and thought leader's reading list living in the Acela corridor. Vance is both an excellent writer and a thoughtful person—and when combined with a compelling story, he's able to shed some light Leggi tutto

I'll be honest I didn't totally finish the book before giving up. I hear Vance on NPR and the story caught my attention. Yet, what I thought would be a better analysis of American economics and poverty proved to be very different. It's one of those conservative love stories of " I got my shit togeth Leggi tutto

Have you ever wondered what became of the Scotch-Irish, who dug America’s coal, forged America’s steel and built America’s automobiles, who worked for the American Dream Monday through Friday. prayed to The Good Lord on Sunday, and revered F.D.R. and J.F.K. every day of the week? The last thing I he Leggi tutto

HILLBILLY ELEGIST: YOUR BOOK SMELLS BAD ENOUGH TO KNOCKA BUZZARD OFF A SHIT WAGON Ma lives in the holler way back yander thar. she plays the fiddle and sings just like Emmy Lou. Mamaw chews tobacco and spits the wad right in her old Styrofoam cup. even in front of company. my pa was a coal miner and beats us Leggi tutto

This books had so much more depth than I expected and honestly, I am more than a little overwhelmed. What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. J.D. Vance, an ex-marine, a Yale law school graduate and self-proclaimed hillbilly, prov

... People talk about hard work all the time in places like Middletown. You can walk through a town where 30 percent of the young men work fewer than twenty hours a week and find not a single person aware of his own laziness. Why is this guy the darling of the talk show circuit right now? He thinks hi Leggi tutto

Hell hath no fury like a strong Protestant Work Ethic without work. Okay – that was my original, but it should have been Vance’s! Instead, he mostly blamed the poor for being poor, lazy, and generally culpable for all (and few) choices. No wonder anger and angst filled their days and nights, and the Leggi tutto