“[A] compassionate, discerning sociological analysis…Combining thoughtful inquiry with firsthand experience, Mr. Vance has inadvertently provided a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election, and he’s done so in a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans. Imagine that.” (Jennifer Senior, New York Times)
I think these couple of sentences from a review set my expectations of the debut memoir by 30-something J.D.Vance in a certain direction. Perhaps it set my expectations too lofty as they weren't met. I expected to understand a little bit more about the past election after reading this book. And I really don't.
On the one hand, I thought J.D. Vance's memories of growing up in Ohio/Kentucky Appalachia was pretty specific to his family. Yes, there were a lot of folks that had migrated from Kentucky to Ohio in hopes of a better life. But even in his telling, many of the experiences varied family to family. In that way, how was this about a culture in crisis? In order for that description to fit, the stories of most of the families had to be much more similar than they were.
Are the stories he selected reflective of the working white poor only? The working white poor in factory towns? Can society be categorized as simply as that?
On the other hand, I didn't think a lot of what he wrote about was general enough. I recall families with substance abuse problems in New Jersey. Aren't some of their problems similar to what J.D. personally experienced? Some of what he wrote about were class issues, some socio-economic, some strictly economic. Others were education issues. I don't think the issues can be attributed to a specific place in the country. I believe these issues are more widespread and general that the book would have us believe. Lots of people have lots of problems. And lots of people blame others for their problems. Plain and simple. I believe the purpose of Hillbilly Elegy was for J.D. Vance to figure out if the hillbillies he is familiar with were the cause of their own misfortune or was there something external behind it. He didn't solve that mystery for me.
I also have issue with the fact that while J.D.'s grandparents were anything close to being traditional, they were there for him in a way many young people aren't lucky enough to have. Although uneducated, they knew the importance of education. They went above and beyond to make up for the shortfalls of the parenting of J.D.'s mother by being good parental figures for J.D. He was incredibly lucky that he didn't end up in the foster care system. I've read enough books about how that works out. And rarely does it work out well.
J.D. had tough beginnings but he attended Ohio State thru the G.I. Bill and later went on to Yale Law School. He was able to make the move from the underprivileged to the privileged and I think he believes that gives him a window and the vocabulary to explain one group of people to another. On that level, I think the book fails. He's writing from the privileged side. He knows how his story ends. And he is able to articulate the path that made his success happen.
As a memoir, Hillbilly Elegy does a great job of telling the author's personal story. It's a story that will inspire many. That is the real strength of the book. We might have a better understanding of why his grandfather went from being a staunch Democrat to critical of the Democrats over such a short period of time. So much of what is written, though, is very specific in nature to this family.
I believe my book club selected this title not because members hoped to better understand the politics of the last election but rather to understand the part of the country where we now find ourselves living. Many of us lived suburban or urban lifestyles before moving to this rural area. Reading this book helped me understand why many of the kids here don't value the importance of high school because they don't see high school graduation as an aide in getting a decent job or as a path to college. I definitely understand that better now. I understand a little bit more about grandparents raising grandchildren, something I only grasped somewhat before.
Right now, I'm not sure if I will be able to attend the meeting where Hillbilly Elegy will be discussed. I'm hoping to make it for at least part of the discussion.
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