Hillbilly Elegy
A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
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Hillbilly Elegy
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Narrated by:
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J. D. Vance
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By:
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J. D. Vance
About this listen
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER / OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD
From Donald Trump's 2024 Vice-Presidential Candidate
‘Essential reading for this moment in history’ New York Times
‘Brilliant … offers an acute insight into the reasons voters have put their trust in Trump’ Observer
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.
‘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
** Now a major-motion picture directed by Ron Howard and starring Amy Adams, Glenn Close, and Gabriel Basso **
©2016 J. D. Vance (P)2016 HarperCollins PublishersCritic reviews
‘Brilliant … offers an acute insight into the reasons voters have put their trust in Trump’ Observer
‘Powerful and highly readable account of the light of the poor white Americans in Kentucky’ Financial Times
‘Essential reading for all yankophiles, politicians and anyone interested in how Donald Trump won over the rust belt to arrive at the White House’ Books of the Year, Sunday Times
‘The memoir gripping America … Vividly articulates the despair and disillusionment of blue-collar America’ Sunday Times
‘A tough-edged elegy for ‘white trash’ hillbilly America’ David Aaronovitch, The Times
‘America’s political system and the white working class have lost faith in each other. ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ offers a starkly honest look at what that shattering of faith feels like for a family who lived through it. You will not read a more important book about America this year’ Economist
‘Vance’s description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history’ David Brooks, New York Times
‘Clear-eyed and nuanced, a powerful antidote to the clamour of news’ The Times
‘With exquisite timing Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ offers something profound at this time of political populism … a great insight into Trump and Brexit’ Ian Birrell, Independent
‘I bought this to try to better understand Trump’s appeal to those white working-class people who feel left behind, but the memoir is so much more than that … It’s an important social history/commentary but also a gripping, unputdownable page-turner’ India Knight, Evening Standard
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What listeners say about Hillbilly Elegy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bree
- 11-19-24
What I thought I knew...
..about 'hillbillys' I now know could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
Besides filling in so many blanks and fleshing out the bare bones lives of mountain folk in a way that was both interesting and informative, JD told his personal story with a sincerity and forthrightness that is mirrored in his guest appearances on longform podcasts.
No affectations, no hyperbole, no candy coating.
It is heartening to realise we are finally going to unvarnished and genuine grassroots people such as this in the White House to reinforce those of his ilk already in Congress and the Senate.
#Vance2028
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-07-17
Great book, insightful and well written.
an inspiring story, personal and honest. Lessons we all can learn from and be inspired by.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Guy Murray
- 07-31-24
Wonderfully honest & insightful
An honest, insightful and deeply personal account of life growing up as a Hillbilly.
The book provides insight to the very real problems socio-economic problems experienced in an entertaining way, with humour.
An excellent body of work superbly narrated by the author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nyaribo
- 06-01-17
The strangely familiar reality of the American dream
If your like me and your searching for answers about today's world and how to succeed , then J.D Vance takes you closer to the door step of your enlightenment and freedom.
The book is a memoir of an American white man that is rarely shared that transcends race and unites the poor/working class and their struggle for upward social mobility that is strangely familiar.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Frank N
- 01-22-18
hilarious
hilarious but original. an ordinary story that everyone can relate to. I so recommend this book
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Greg
- 08-11-24
Great story, great production
I enjoyed every aspect of this audio book.
It’s far outside my experience, but provided amazing education into the experience of Mr Vance.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Greg D. Joffe
- 10-14-17
Fabulous mix of autobiography and social analysis read by the author
I always enjoy autobiographies read by the author and this was an exceptionally good one. Amazing life story surviving incredible poverty and family challenges but also some robust thinking and analysis about what makes a difference and how things work.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pieter Reyneke
- 06-21-17
Wonderful book.
This book gave me a better understanding and I g of my own life and failures. It is more a self help kind of book as one of literary significance. Well written and it answers so many of the questions to socio-economic problems we are trying to solve.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- NIVEDH SHETTY
- 07-26-19
Honest and thought-provoking
The best feature of the book is the author's honesty in sharing his stories. While the conclusions drawn in the book are debatable, the nature of the arguments are intelligent and well-thought of, and can help drive a good conversation on what upward mobility means to those in the working class.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jon
- 07-19-20
Engaging story with surprisingly excellent narrati
I have listened to a number of books narrated by the author, and this has perhaps the best narration of any of them. Typically, I feel like the benefits of listening to the author tell their own story more than offset their lack of polish as a narrator - but in this case there is no tradeoff, Vance is a clear spoken and engaging narrator in his own right.
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