Book #7: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance

I heard about this book from a few different book blogs I follow, and it sounded super interesting, and I'm pleased that I finally figured out about e-audiobooks to download it to my phone and listen to it while exercising and sewing this week. Vance is a self-proclaimed hillbilly, who grew up in the Rust Belt of Ohio but has deep family roots in Kentucky, and he describes his life and experiences as a larger panoramic picture of what life is like for people like him--working class whites. His life has turned out fine: he went into the Marines, went to college, graduated from Yale Law School, and has totally achieved "the American Dream" of pulling himself out of the lower-class culture where he grew up. But his entire argument is that it is almost impossible for kids to do what he did--and he was only able to do it through the amazing help and support he had from some very strong people in his life. He doesn't try to make any huge claims or share any major ideas about what he thinks should be done, but he talks a little bit about what is working and what isn't for kids growing up in a somewhat abusive, drug-riddled, unstable home like he did. I loved how he described his transition into the upper class at Yale, and how strange and confusing he found the expectations and culture of this elite group that he was totally unfamiliar with. He was very honest about his struggles with self-doubt and his attempts to turn away from the bad habits and harmful beliefs that he was imbued with throughout his childhood, and I think that was one of the most powerful parts of his story. He definitely should not have managed to overcome what he did--it's almost impossible to imagine someone being able to come out and be not just successful but actually happy in their life after being taught such difficult lessons and negative lifestyles in their childhood.

Fair warning: This book had a TON of cussing in it. But it didn't really bother me, because it was almost always coming from his amazing, hilarious, larger-than-life grandparents, who basically raised him and were whom he credited with saving his life, and who were utter and complete hillbillies in every sense of the word and had no problem with threatening, swearing, and actually committing violence whenever needed. I totally loved both of his grandparents, and their life stories and the way they turned around from not being great parents to being absolutely essential grandparents really impressed me.