Hillbilly Elegy

by J D Vance

[Hillary]

OMG Y'ALL THIS BOOK!!! I will try to write a coherent review and stop gushing all over it. I was born and raised in southeastern KY in the heart of Central Appalachia. I was always an odd duck from the start. I loved books and writing. I would make up my stories and give them o people to read. I was lucky in that my family encouraged this. Also, I was born Profoundly Deaf. In Appalachian culture, that is a big disadvantage.  Luckily for me my mom and uncle were both college educated, so I did not fall through the proverbial cracks. My mom took me to the library, and I always had books to read. That in itself was an oddity. There were no bookstores in the area. Walmart had some books, but most were too poor to get them. My family made damn sure I had my books. I had always dreamed of being a writer, and I am today, but it was a hard road to get here.

Like the author I escaped along the hillbilly highway. I have settled in Cleveland Ohio. Yeah, I followed the highway to the end of it. Hee hee. The author is spot on so many things. I have often wondered if somehow I was misunderstanding some things but reading this book, I kept going YES YES YES ME TOO!!  I also had a tough as nails mawmaw who made damn sure that I stayed the course. She would check my homework first thing when I got home. When I later transferred to Ky School For the Deaf, she would check everything when I came home for the weekend. She taught me how to stand up for myself. She was a guiding point in my life.  After reading this book, I can appreciate her so much more. She is dead now, but she lived long enough to make damn sure that I would be successful.  I got and graduated with Honors from Gallaudet University in Washington DC. Like the author I had some difficulty getting there in high school, I was always in trouble until the last two years when I buckled down and gave it my all.

The author examines his life with his unstable mother and the effect that had on him. Reading this also made me appreciate my mother even more. She was stable, and there was no revolving door of men. Her sole focus was getting me to college. I did know people like the author and I have to admit that I never thought about the effect that it has on people. It made me think more deeply about the people that I knew in public school and why they did not make it out.

My favorite part was when he described what upward mobility was like. OMG, I could relate to so much. There were so may times I felt out of my element. At networking events, I would be standing in a corner gawking at all the fancy shit and not networking. I always felt like a fraud. I still do, to be honest. The first time I encountered the ten pieces of silverware, I was speechless. I mean seriously? Luckily I had a friend who explained everything. Dressing for upward mobility was a challenge. Back in the hills we just wear sweatpants or Wal-Mart jeans and a t-shirt. That don't cut it in the business world. The author is so right the upward mobility is a lifestyle change. Successful people eat differently, talk differently, dress differently, It has been a challenge. The toughest one was quitting smoking. Yeah, no one in the upper-class smokes. I started to feel embraced every time I had to take a cigarette break, so I quit. It has been tough. Especially when I go back home and I see everyone puffing on a cigarette.

People need to understand that upward mobility is not as easy as it seems. Like the author, I had people helping me every step of the way. My professors in college introduced me to people, taught me to network and all of that stuff. It seems that the people who make it have people helping them. You can't do it alone.

This is an important book. I want the whole damn world to read this book. The author explains spot on what it is like trying to bust out of poverty and the trials and tribulations of upward mobility. I am one of those who has "made it." I had the same help as the author did. I have traveled to Africa been to other countries, and I am living my childhood dream. I couldn't have done it without the help I have received.

Read this book... That is all I have to say.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land