Hillbilly Elegy
by J. D. Vance · first published 2016
31% recommend63% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Personal memoir of growing up in a struggling working-class Appalachian family in the Rust Belt; helps readers, especially urban ones, understand white working-class culture, poverty, and the politics around them.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, this book is a probing look at the struggles of America's white working class through the author's own story of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town. Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of poor, white Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for over forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside.
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…Morgan Housel (contributor), Corey Hoffstein (contributor), Barry Ritholtz (contributor) > Janesville Amy Goldstein > The Man Who Could Be King John Miller > My Own Liberator Dikgang Moseneke > Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance > Small Great Things Jodi Picoult > Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari > Born to Run Bruce Springsteen > The Content Trap Bharat Anand > The Gene: An Intimate…
on “Annual survey of book recommendations” ↗I suggest reading Hillbilly Elegy (J.D. Vance) which offers a counterexample. It was cheaper for him to go to Yale law school than to Ohio State.
on “Text Your Way to College” ↗Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance Red Rising and sequels by Pierce Brown The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (I read Three Body Problem + sequels in 2016. The first book I thought was ok. I really liked the second book…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2017?” ↗First, read Hillbilly Elegy. It's not directly about politics, but Vance is a working-class man who came from a home marked by substance abuse and every other kind of dysfunction you can imagine to become a Yale law graduate who…
on “YC's Winter Reading List” ↗Top books that I read this past year: - Hillbilly Elegy By JD Vance - Golden Son by Pierce Brown (second book in a trilogy) liked the whole trilogy - Rosie Project/Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion - Graceling by Kristin Cashore - Station Eleven by Emily…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗Nonfiction: Hillbilly Elegy By JD Vance Fiction: Golden Son by Pierce Brown - liked the whole trilogy; Rosie Project/Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read on 2017?” ↗Enjoyed the below: The Beginning of Infinity - David Deutsch Dear Friend, From My Life I Write To You in Your Life - Yiyun Li Hillbilly Elegy - JD Vance Inadequate Equilibria - Eliezer Yudkowsky The Neapolitan Novels - Elena Ferrante Mating In Captivity - Esther Perel Our Mathematical Universe - Max Tegmark Radical Candor - Kim Scott Scale…
on “Ask HN: What are some interesting books you read in 2017?” ↗…share that anger myself). I understand the anger at the direction of the slow societal breakdown I've seen in many parts of the country (and which, ironically, I feel that Vance elucidated very well in Hillbilly Elegy). I understand many of the policy differences. But it's what I see as the complete moral baselessness and behavior I can only describe as narcissistically bizarre that I just fundamentally can not understand.…
on “Zelensky leaves White House after angry meeting” ↗Hillbilly Elegy is excellent and touches on some of the points, but really just read conservatives. We're not exactly shy about what we don't like about modern liberalism. Go peruse the pages of National Review or…
on “YC's Winter Reading List” ↗…decrease in the number of small farming operations. Bad economic policies lead to public health and cultural crises. I can't help but draw some parallels to what has been happening in the Rust Belt (Hillbilly Elegy is a great read for this topic). It's insane how little I know about food economics and scary how much of an impact it has on communities, especially impoverished ones.
on “On the death of my family's dairy farm (2019)” ↗…was "making it." I didn't understand how the world worked or what was possible. I missed out on opportunities because I didn't realize that I should be looking for them. A great book on the subject is Hillbilly Elegy. It tracks closely with my own experiences (though I can say that I am fortunate to not have some of the challenges that the author faced). Based on my experiences, I have chosen to expose my children…
on “Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall” ↗A book titled "Hillbilly Elegy" goes into this in great detail, and is a very important read for anybody trying to make sense of the insanity that is modern American politics (on both sides of the aisle, really).
on “Why Do People Who Need Help from the Government Hate It So Much?” ↗Problem is you can't help them, they are self destructive. You need to change their culture of "learned helplessness". Read the book Hillbilly Elegy for a good perspective.
on “Donald Trump Is Elected President” ↗The book Hillbilly Elegy is a great read to get a peak into this culture: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0166ISAS8/
on “Donald Trump Is Elected President” ↗Pretty fascinating finding! Interesting related book if anyone is interested: Hillbilly Elegy. It's a personal memoir that extensively discusses the struggles of working class whites, particularly Scots-Irish/hillbillies. It helped me understand our last election better, as well.
on “How Subtle Class Cues Can Backfire on a Resume (2016)” ↗