I was not the only one that woke up confused with Donald Trump installed as president of the United States.
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This book has helped me understand how this could happen and why it came a such a surprise for a lot of people.
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The book is part memoir and part sociocultural analysis. J. D Vance tells the true story of what it like to live in community in decline. He grew up in a rust belt town in a family that struggled with addiction and abuse but escaped it. Seeing his own community from from an outside perspective made him write this book.
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The white working class is the one social group in America that has the darkest outlook on life. Learned helplessness, believing that ones choices don’t have any impact on ones life, is widespread and belief in upward mobility and opportunities to come is fading.
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I don’t have a certain key takeaway from this book, but it help understand where the messaging of Trumps presidential campaign was aimed at and how in some circles it came as such a surprise that he won.
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This is not a book about politics, but a very honest and personal story that attempts to understand reasons behind the recent decline in the “hillbilly” way of life. It doesn’t mention Trump but it makes it clear that there are a lot of desperate people in the US that feel overlooked and want to end the status quo no matter the price.
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4/5
“Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance
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