Book Review: Hillbilly Elegy

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I know, I know.  I said I was going to take book reviews off of this blog.  I was wrong to say that.  I like having the books I love here, and I enjoy sharing them with you in this space.  So, ignore what I said before.  My book reviews are back!!!!

One hundred years ago, many of us had working class ancestors who worked in coal mines, factories, and steel mills.  These jobs provided upward mobility for many working class American families, moving them up into the Middle Class.  Many families moved away from family farms into big cities, following the siren call of well paying jobs.

As manufacturing jobs moved overseas or automated, the cities that were built to support the industries remained.  But without the industries that supported the workers, the families that remained behind fell into crisis.  And there they stay.  Crime, Drug Addiction, Alcoholism, and Abuse run rampant in these communities as families struggle to survive.

J.D. Vance grew up in one of these little towns in South East Ohio.  He tells the tale of his own family, which is the tale of many families in the struggling factory towns throughout the Rust Belt.  While his family struggles with alcoholism and drug abuse, he managed to find a way to not only survive, but thrive.

If you are curious about the forces that drove the last election, the growing class divide in the United States, and what can be done to help stop the forces that are tearing at the fabric of our families, read this book.

I'd like to make a point here.  My own father was from South West Indiana.  J.D.'s story close matches my Dad's story, and much of J.D.'s larger family history matches my larger family history.  We still have family in Indiana who live in once thriving little towns.  I grew up outside of Dayton, Ohio, within an hour of where J.D. grew up.  As I was reading J.D.'s story, I heard echoes of my Dad, and I began to understand many of the decisions my Dad had made, and more of who he was than I ever did in the years that he was alive.

No matter your personal politics, Hillbilly Elegy tells a story that needs to be heard.