Hillbilly Elegy

"Hillbilly Elegy" by J D Vance

4/5 Stars

Finished 6/16/20 (catching up)

This memoir made my heart ache but more importantly, it made me think. America may be one of the richest countries, but we also have an unfortunate number of poor families trying desperately to make ends meet. We can make donations of money, food, clothing, etc but that doesn’t fix the problem. That doesn’t give children a stable environment at home so that they can do well at school to better themselves. That doesn’t prevent family members from falling into the hell of addiction. It doesn’t give them stable jobs with benefits. I don’t have the answers of how to fix these issues, but I know we need to keep trying. We need to continue to be informed of the issues our poor face and try to help break the cycle. We need to continue to find ways to help children strive to better themselves and provide pathways to allow them to do so. And we need to continue to be compassionate. That is how we can make a difference.

If you haven’t guessed, I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s the story of a boy growing up in KY and OH to then become a marine and later graduate from Yale law school. He had many obstacles to overcome to get where he is today and without his grandmother, I don’t know that he ever could have. I credit her for a lot of what he has been able to accomplish. She gave him both love and stability when he needed it most.