Absolutely loved it! Made me think. The author told a great story. I listened to the audiobook from my library.

This is an insightful read about what it's like to be working class poor in the United States. In my mind, I thought that all poor work to make ends meet and that bad luck means some break through the safety net. It hasn't ever really occurred to me that milking the system could be systematic or common place. Given that perspective, I suppose the poor people who do work can feel deeply affronted about having to pay taxes. It also exemplifies the deep divide between the working poor and the elite. The working poor are deeply mistrustful of mainstream media and policies from "above".

In the United States, "42 percent of working-class whites - by far the highest number in the survey - report that their lives are less economically successful than those of their parents". Statistics I've seen show that that minimum wage in the 1950's could support a family, whether these days, this is impossible. At least with just one minimum wage job.

I better understand now how the last election went like it did. A "common" guy vs. established elite - well, that went down well with many I suppose. Not that it's going to help anyone who needs help, but I better understand the perspective eventhough I do not agree with it.

This book is mostly about the author's life and his take on the situation he grew up in and stepped out of. J.D. Vance is sympathetic, down to earth and belieavable. There aren't many like him anymore. For most the "American Dream" is just that - a dream.

Good book.

3.5 stars. There were parts of this I really enjoyed, but I can't help but call bullshit when Vance asserts that race had nothing to do with the backlash against Obama. Sure, buddy.

A memoir that gives proof that a shitty childhood often leads to a broken moral compass and causes many to grow up into shitty adults - JD Vance is not the exception. Oh poor white man who rather point the finger of illegal aliens and anyone other than himself for the problems in the United States.

Memoir Meets Sociological Observation

This book is the life story of a young man who grows up in rural, poor white communities in Kentucky and Ohio and is able to overcome poverty, abuse, and family traumas to become a marine, college graduate, and law student at Yale. It was definitely an interesting read and a very personal perspective on the community that raised him. There is a lot of sociological observation and research mixed in around addiction, the creation of these poor white pockets in America and the clash of culture between these communities and “elite” institutions like college, law school and any environment outside of it. The only thing I didn’t like was there didn’t really seem to be a summarization or what it all meant or any opinion of next steps for what some solutions would be so it left me hanging with a “so what/ what’s next?” outlook.