What is 'Hillbilly Elegy' about? All about JD Vance's book amid VP pick.

Capitol Hill is rarely the only career venture for politicians. Before taking office, many elected officials have already made a name for themselves in business, economics, advocacy work or tech. 

Such is the case for J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s recently announced vice-presidential running mate. The Ohio Republican was first elected to the Senate in 2022 after defeating Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan. But before his time in Congress, he was most well-known as an author. 

Here’s everything you need to know about Vance’s 2016 bestseller and its 2020 film adaptation.

JD Vance’s book: What is ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ about?

Vance has written one book – his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” was published in 2016 by HarperCollins Publisher. He was under contract to write a second book, "A Relevant Faith: Searching for a Meaningful American Christianity," but the project fell through, the Associated Press reported in 2022. He also wrote a foreword to Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott's "Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural America to Silicon Valley – Making AI Serve Us All."

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“Hillbilly Elegy” tells the story of a childhood plagued by abuse, alcoholism and poverty. It follows Vance’s white, working-class family from his grandparents in Kentucky’s Appalachia region to his coming-of-age in Middletown, Ohio. Vance also chronicles his time in the Marines and higher education, touching on “generational upward mobility” and carrying “the demons of his chaotic family history.”

"I think of so much of politics through the eyes of my Mamaw and Papaw...they grew up very poor and they moved to southern Ohio because that was the land of opportunity," told a crowd in Delaware during his 2022 Senate bid. "That was the place where a guy could work hard and play by the rules and raise a family on a single middle-class income."

Pundits began using his memoir to explain Trump’s popularity with white, rural voters in the 2016 election. The New York Times called it “a tough love analysis of the poor who back Trump.” Vance, however, openly criticized Trump in 2016, even suggesting he could be “America’s Hitler.” He switched his messaging while gearing up for his 2022 Senate run, securing a Trump endorsement in the GOP primary.

Vance had the name recognition of “Hillbilly Elegy” on his side by the time he ran against Rep. Ryan. Many saw him as a politician able to identify with everyday Americans. But not all Appalachians felt themselves represented in its telling of white, middle-class families.

One review in The Atlantic criticizes the film and book for framing poverty as a “moral failing of individuals” rather than a larger system at work: “Hillbilly Elegy has to simplify the people and problems of Appalachia, because it has decided to tell the same old pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps narrative that so many of us reject.”

‘Hillbilly Elegy’ movie cast: Who played JD Vance in the film adaptation?

Ron Howard directed an adaptation of Vance’s memoir, which was released in select theaters and on Netflix in November 2020. “Hillbilly Elegy” stars Amy Adams as his mother, Bev Vance, and Glenn Close as his grandmother, Mamaw. Gabriel Basso plays J.D. Vance and Owen Asztalos plays a younger version of him. 

The film didn’t fair well among critics – receiving only 25% on Rotten Tomatoes – but Close scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Oscars for her role. 

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