Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

A Child Called It

• Dave Pelzer’s 1995 memoir on his experience with child abuse
• relates the common topic of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); shares themes of Societal Law Versus Family Code/Family Loyalty and Personal Versus Societal Responsibility for the Disenfranchised
• A Child Called It on SuperSummary

The Glass Castle

• Jeannette Walls’s 2006 memoir of her challenging and dysfunctional childhood
• relates the common topics of hard work, perseverance, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); shares themes of Societal Law Versus Family Code/Family Loyalty and Personal Versus Societal Responsibility for the Disenfranchised
• The Glass Castle on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Hillbilly Elegy

• 2020 movie adaptation of Vance’s memoir, available to stream on Netflix
• conveys the memoir’s themes of  The Non-Nuclear Family, Appalachian Migration, Societal Law Versus Family Code/Family Loyalty, and Personal Versus Societal Responsibility for the Disenfranchised

Ted Talk with J.D. Vance

• Vance’s 2016 Ted Talk entitled “America's Forgotten Working Class”
• relates the memoir’s themes of Appalachian Migration and Personal Versus Societal Responsibility for the Disenfranchised