robla@sfba.club reviewed Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
Review of 'Hillbilly Elegy' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I was going to grudgingly give this book 4 stars, but I settled on 3 stars. Vance is a very good storyteller, and the audiobook was worth an Audible credit. I first learned about Hillbilly Elegy in the months prior to the 2016 election. The scathing review that [a:Sarah Smarsh|3314241|Sarah Smarsh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1523224716p2/3314241.jpg] wrote convinced me to hold off: "Dangerous idiots: how the liberal media elite failed working-class Americans (The Guardian)". Her review convinced me that 1) I didn't need to read Hillbilly Elegy and 2) I wanted to read Smarsh's book if/when it came out (and it came out in 2018, and I really liked it).
My friends eventually convinced me to read it (or rather, listen to it). Vance is a more concise and organized storyteller than Smarsh, but Smarsh seems like a more trustworthy journalist. As many critics have pointed out about Vance, he seems …
I was going to grudgingly give this book 4 stars, but I settled on 3 stars. Vance is a very good storyteller, and the audiobook was worth an Audible credit. I first learned about Hillbilly Elegy in the months prior to the 2016 election. The scathing review that [a:Sarah Smarsh|3314241|Sarah Smarsh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1523224716p2/3314241.jpg] wrote convinced me to hold off: "Dangerous idiots: how the liberal media elite failed working-class Americans (The Guardian)". Her review convinced me that 1) I didn't need to read Hillbilly Elegy and 2) I wanted to read Smarsh's book if/when it came out (and it came out in 2018, and I really liked it).
My friends eventually convinced me to read it (or rather, listen to it). Vance is a more concise and organized storyteller than Smarsh, but Smarsh seems like a more trustworthy journalist. As many critics have pointed out about Vance, he seems to conflate his parents' and his grandparents' upbringing with his own. He characterizes Middletown, Ohio as a small town in Ohio, and not a key component of the "Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area" as it's called by the U.S. Census bureau.
If you're a real political junkie (like I am), this is an important book to read. This book was incredibly influential in the the U.S. presidential election of 2016, and could end up being as important in the 2020 election. I found Vance's upbringing relatable, and like Vance, I also have a soft spot for Cracker Barrel, even though chicken fried steak is horribly unhealthy food. But Vance propagates some dangerous generalizations about "hillbillies" that don't apply to everyone from Kentucky (or other rural areas), so be sure to take everything he says with a big grain of salt, and don't take what he writes as anything more than one guy's perspective. And also note: J.D. Vance told the Washington Post in December 2016 that he was considering running for office.
Those of you that aren't political junkies: just wait for Ron Howard's film adaptation. It should be coming out on Netflix this year.
