J.D. Vance
James David "J. D." Vance (born James Donald Bowman; August 2, 1984) is an American author and venture capitalist known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy. The book is about the Appalachian values of his upbringing and their relation to the social problems of his hometown. The book was on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2016 and 2017. It was a finalist for the 2017 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. It attracted significant attention during the 2016 election from national media as a window into the white working class. Vance attracted criticism from some Eastern Kentuckians who said he was 'not a hillbilly', while others supported him.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
In his 2016 bestseller, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance recounts his childhood struggles to overcome rural poverty and resist the dysfunctional values embedded in much of Appalachian tradition. The scars inflicted by this kind of upbringing tend to yield only misery and despair. J.D.’s life represents a rare and hopeful exception.
J.D.’s beloved grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw, are the heroes of this account, who never allowed him to lose faith in goodness and love. He credits their relentless care for his emotional and spiritual well-being as the force that helped him to escape the clutches of a failing middle class and a culture that preaches the advantages of victimization.
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