Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture

American author J. D. Vance’s 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, chronicles Vance’s Appalachian upbringing in a poor Scots-Irish working-class culture. As Vance tells the story of his journey from broken Ohio homes to the Marine Corps, Ohio State University, and Yale Law School, he also documents the numerous factors that comprise white, working-class Appalachians’ descent into poverty, addiction, and despair, leaving them ostracized and, often, in danger. The memoir’s main themes include The Appalachian Diaspora, abiding by Societal Laws Versus Family Loyalty, and Personal Versus Societal Responsibility for the Disenfranchised. Hillbilly Elegy was a #1 New York Times bestseller. In 2020, the memoir was adapted into a film, directed by Ron Howard, which garnered mixed reviews.

Vance (b. 1984) is a lawyer, politician, and venture capitalist for a San Francisco investment firm. Vance began his tenure as Ohio’s junior senator in 2023, and in 2024, he was named the Republican Party’s vice-presidential nominee.

This guide uses the 2016 HarperCollins edition of the text.

Content Warning: The guide discusses racism, class bias, violence, addiction, and death by suicide, topics that appear in the source text.