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  • Hillbilly Elegy

  • A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
  • By: J. D. Vance
  • Narrated by: J. D. Vance
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (380 ratings)

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Hillbilly Elegy cover art

Hillbilly Elegy

By: J. D. Vance
Narrated by: J. D. Vance
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Publisher's Summary

J. D. Vance grew up in the hills of Kentucky. His family and friends were the people most of the world calls rednecks, hillbillies or white trash. In this deeply moving memoir, Vance tells the story of his family’s demons and of America’s problem with generational neglect. 

How his mother struggled against, but never fully escaped, the legacies of abuse, alcoholism, poverty and trauma. How his grandparents, ‘dirt poor and in love’, gave everything for their children to chase the American dream. How Vance beat the odds to graduate from Yale Law School. And how America came to abandon and then condescend to its white working classes, until they reached breaking point.   

Artwork used with permission from Netflix, Inc.  

©2016 J. D. Vance (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

"The memoir gripping America.... Vividly articulates the despair and disillusionment of blue-collar America." ( Sunday Times)
"Vance's description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history." (David Brooks, New York Times)
"A beautiful memoir but it is equally a work of cultural criticism about white working-class America.... [Vance] offers a compelling explanation for why it's so hard for someone who grew up the way he did to make it...a riveting book." ( Wall Street Journal)
"Quietly thoughtful, poignant...while the political timeliness of Hillbilly Elegy is undeniable, Vance truly shines when he takes us with him 'down the holler' into an America we thought we knew - until we realized how little of it we truly understood." ( Huffington Post)
"Looking back on his youth, and all he fled, yields a frank, unsentimental, harrowing memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. It's a superb book given an extra layer of importance by its political reverberations: When Vance returns home these days, he sees yard after yard festooned with Trump signs." ( NY Post)
"You will not read a more important book about America this year." ( Economist)

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What listeners say about Hillbilly Elegy

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An excellent read

For a young man you did extremely well JD Vance. I'm in my 70's and can relate to your memoirs. Your narration is excellent. There is a lot to learn from your story and the way you value the role of each individual who make up that story. Thank you.

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window view

I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting and in ways quite a disturbing read about the inequality endured on a daily basis.

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Amazing story about overcoming the odds

Really enjoyed this unique and personal account of a much wider problem in American society. I could relate to JD Vance's story in many ways, despite being a non-American. The audiobook was read very well by the author.

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warning

an excellent sociological study of a once minority culture which is set to become a majority one.

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A very particular American insight

As a non American, I found this an interesting biopic by a person who has experienced much in his lifetime. Many parallels with social groups from other countries. At times, I was reminded of how American-centric his perspective is inspire of higher learning and world experience. Definitely worth a read

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A modern classic

An amazing story of a world most of us can only guess at. J D Vance tells his story without either sugar coating or dramatising. So refreshing in these days of victimisation

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fascinating

alot of interesting insights ... hillbillies ... who knew they were a cultural phenomenon?! I didn't !

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Worth the time to listen to

Well written and beautifully narrated. Interesting true story about love, resilience and families. This story needs to remain successful for generations to come.

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Hillbilly Elegy is a book that inspires

Even though I knew there were hillbillies in my family tree, everything in Hillbilly Elegy was new to me. J.D. Vance tells so many stories about his upbringing, you will wonder how he ever got through it. It is a fascinating story that is will keep you listening. Even though, I wondered how anyone could live the way these hillbillies live, I found so many things in this book inspirational.

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Basket of deplorables

Funny that this book received rave reviews when it came out. It’s really a celebration of ghastliness: awful people doing dreadful things to each other. Beats me why anyone would want to know about the ignorant rednecks the author elegises.
The book is indifferently written: poor English (there is no such word as dove- its dived) and poor continuity in this narrative.
The book is badly read: monotone, downward intonation at the end of each sentence sounds like a sermon.
I have absolutely no idea why this book was written. I guess you have to be American.

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