Hillbilly Elegy

“and it is directly at odds with the lion version of JD Vance who wrote Hillbilly.”

“Something I've always found interesting about Vance is that if you read Hillbilly Elegy, and I've read it a couple of times, if you take seriously what he is struggling with in that book, one of the things he's struggling with is a sense of being otherred.”

“they were immigrants Appalachian immigrants he talks about this at length in his book”

“but as was also true for JD Vance's own ancestors who moved from Kentucky to Ohio because the Ohio economy was better they were immigrants Appalachian immigrants He talks about this at length in his book”

“I've been thinking about this question with Vance because I've been going back and rereading Helly elegy and one of the Striking things about that book is that Vance understands his own story as an immigration story”

“you ever read Hill bology I did I did years ago I did years ago and I've been reading it this week and I'm going to say more about this in a future episode but it's a little bit of a shocking reread”

“that angs that JD Vance talks about in hillbill yogy”

“I interviewed JD Vance in his hillbilly elegy period and he was a very different guy”

“and going back to what I was saying earlier about M Romney and and Donald Trump and implicitly who is being spoken about it often seems to me we're we're implicitly speaking about you know the kinds of people that say Vance was worried about in his book hillbilly elegy and the policy proposals are flowing in that direction”

“and on the non-fiction list Hill Billy elegy remains at the top JD Vance's Memoir”

“there are some you know sort of easy description s of your book that compare it with JD Vance's hillbilly elgy and say you know here is the sort of liberal version to his more conservative story”

“on the non-fiction list I think the most interesting thing um is that hillbilly Eloy by JD Vance the Memoir by this white workingclass guy”

“I mean, that book actually kind of had a renaissance back in 2016 when "Hillbilly Elegy" came out. [...] But JD Vance's book, "Hillbilly Elegy," I think was really important for a long time for American elites who were like, "How do these people support Trump?"”

“That book experienced a renaissance in 2016 when 'Hillbilly Elegy' was published, which many may remember. He ignored the signs that he needed to stop and drop out until it became undeniable for a vast majority of Americans.”

“I have not yet met JD Vance, although we have a podcast planned; I have read his book, however, much of it twice.”

“Vance writes with real love of the people in his life in Hillbilly Elegy, which is genuinely a people rather than idea-centered book — that is not a criticism, by the way, but an observation, as I have already commented positively on his intelligence.”

“We all read Hillbilly Elegy. I don't know if we talked about it on this pod years ago but you and I certainly talked about it a bunch Chamath. And you know he he came from nothing. Less than nothing.”

“We all read Hillbilly Elegy; I don't know if we talked about it on this pod years ago, but you and I certainly talked about it a bunch.”

“I think it's a kind of CounterPoint to JD Vance's Memoir which for many people was sort of right immediately after the election”

“I talked about JD Vance's hillbilly elegy”

“there was all these white working class books that became its own genre right the hillbilly elogy genre exactly exactly that's sort of the the foundational text of the of the white working class books of this time”

“hillbilly elegy was not a book about Donald Trump Donald Trump is not mentioned in that book it was written before Trump's campaign but it became a trump book”

“hillbilly elegy is a must read it will it will break your heart it will make you cry it will make you stand and cheer for him”

“he his story is so compelling hillbilly elegy is a must read”

“and there's a book you should read as well I'm going to recommend to you called hillbilly elegy um I'm reading it right now and it's uh it's it's amazing man it's just it's about your culture and the things that happen in your area in Kentucky”

“and there's a book you should read as well I'm going to recommend to you called hillbilly elegy um I'm reading it right now and it's uh it's it's amazing man it's just it's about your culture and the things that happen in your area in Kentucky and um you'll love it man it sounds like you could I mean”

“Mr. Vice President, I have your book here. Okay. And it says, "Of all the things that I hated about my childhood, nothing compared to the revolving door of father figures."”

“if viewers haven't watched Hill belly or read the book Hill belly he understands it at such an intuitive level because he lived it”

“around the time when he wrote the hillbilly elegy book and and he was sort of you know in some ways became um the way to explain Trump to you know liberals”

“so he told me that he wanted hillbilly LGA to be mostly sociological like this kind of detached almost academic work where he's describing the patterns and pathologies of Appalachia the white working class and so on”

“This is where I get I take offense to JD Vance and in hillbilly El those are my people”

“another book that kind of fits that category but of course has been on the list for a while is uh hillbilly elgy by JD Vance which is holding strong at number three”

“you know Tara westovers Memoir educated has continued to sell really well you know that's sort of like in the JD Vance hillbilly elegy tradition of of a surprising Memoir”

“and then the obvious one is JD Vance's hillbilly elery”

“He wrote that book Hillbilly Elegy, which was a very interesting book. I mean a very interesting book. And you know, they made a movie out of it I think, but he's a political newcomer.”

“having said that i've recently been recently reading hillbilly elegy which is fantastic”

“one of my friends JD Vance he wrote this book hillbilly ology and one of the things he talks about is he's like you know we have our best scientists neuroscientists all these other people in the world trying to figure out how does make you and I spend more micro and milliseconds and kids on their phones than trying”

“i mean this is what jd vance talks about in hillbilly elegy right the people who are in these small towns and they've basically been told that they have two choices they can go on welfare or they can leave”

“Well, going back to that point about the fabricated page from JD Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy, that talks about him having sex with a Christian or whatever, that was that was kind of the the brilliant aspect of this”

“Yeah, and I know we're going to get into all of that, because again, we have a Sager tweet, but it echoes something that you actually heard from JD Vance in Hillbilly Elegy that he's since kind of recanted this critique of American culture.”

“Uh, I don't feel that way about Tim Walz, who says I misspoke when actually he just lied to you! Uh, but I think we see that in Hillbilly Elegy in JD Vance's story and we definitely see that in Donald Trump!”

“I mean Hillbilly Elegy was not only best-selling, but then it became a movie. I mean people know his story.”

“I never got to the end of that book though, but whatever happened to, they found him in that manger.”

“And apparently in Hillbilly Elegy he talked about how he in the Marines, he did media relations for the Marines combat correspondent.”

“I picked this up—this is actually when we became friends initially—we were at some massive bankers conference, and I had just written “Hillbilly Elegy.” I feel dirty thinking about it, yeah.”

“I always go back to Hillbilly Elegy and its profound impact on the American psyche.”

“But Penelope stays with me because we got to get into the love story, and I have to tell you Dennis, I know has been reading Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. I see a lot of parallels here in some ways between what Usha, JD's wife, has done for him and what Nancy Reagan did for Ron.”

“And so this is another guy that I'm really interested to see debate, especially how they've tried to classify JD Vance as just some dude from Yale and he's trying to outcommon—he's trying to outpour JD Vance, who has a hit bestseller and a Hollywood film based on how poor he was as a kid growing up.”

“JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on, that's not what Middle America is.”

“She was bringing man after man into her home with young children, including a little boy, JD; he was having Pepsi in the baby bottle; he was sleeping in his jeans; he didn't have somebody really looking after him other than when his grandma came into the picture more full-time, and she helped JD and his — his mom stuck”

“Anyone who's read Hillbilly Elegy or listened to JD talk about where he comes from knows he's got nothing but love for the people he grew up with.”

“What's so difficult for me is that he writes this thing, Hillbilly Elegy, right, about sort of growing up poor, and now he blames the people.”

“But Trump's a phony too, and I'll just play this one other sound bite, because he was asked questions like this when Hillbilly Elegy hit.”

“It's so amazing because my copy of Hillbilly Elegy was the 2018 copy, and it's sort of festooned with praise from all the same outlets that are now attacking him.”

“I mean, he claims to be from Eastern Kentucky, tries to write a book about it to profit off our people, and then he calls us lazy, acting like he understands our culture and he's one of us.”

“What happened to him from the period I've talked to him was that he had no idea that this book would be a bestseller.”

“If you read the book, you would see he didn't quite say that.”

“But his book is really about his upbringing in Middletown, Ohio.”

“What’s important is, one, his political identity is from Hillbilly Elegy; he’s speaking to people from the Rust Belt.”

“They were in love with you after Hillbilly Elegy until, you know, because they thought you were like a Trump whisperer. You were the guy who could help them understand the evil man who had entered the presidency.”

“JD Vance, the vice presidential debate based on the people that Kamala Harris is vetting as a candidate, but that's who he is; he's not nearly as substantial as you'd think his life experience and his book and the movie made about his book should be.”

“It's just amazing the stories in his past and the characters; you know, that's why Ron Howard made a movie out of the book. And the star of his life and history is his grandmother, Mama, who I talked with the audience about earlier this week.”

“This is... no one knows about JD Vance. I know he had a bestselling book, but not that many people read it.”

“I mean, I think J.D. Vance is such an interesting pick, partially because so many Americans know him from Hillbilly Elegy, which had a profound impact on the American public.”

“Now, I first met JD back in 2017, about a year after his book Hillbilly Elegy became a New York Times bestseller. The book dropped in the middle of the 2016 election cycle.”

“JD watched as the jobs dried up and the basketball courts grew covered with weeds. "My home," he writes in Hillbilly Elegy, "was a hub of misery."”

“She was so iconic that Ron Howard made her character the star of his movie based on JD's book; she was played by Glenn Close.”

“I guarantee you that Megyn, Mama will be mentioned in the vice presidential acceptance speech. He dedicated his book to her.”

“Speaking of speaking of way too young MAGA leaders, the other huge news on Monday was Trump's announcement that his running mate will be JD Vance of Ohio—39-year-old senator, author of 'Hillbilly Elegy' and former CNN contributor, who went from calling Trump 'America's Hitler' to becoming the MAGA era parent and one of Project 2012’s best friends.”

“JD Vance, I mean, you know, read his book, watch the movie, it connects. He had a tough life.”

“that's where that's what hillbilly elegy was written about”

“You know, I read, you know, the Hillbilly Elegy author, um, you know, I was, you know, my surprise at that happening caused me to ask questions.”

“I just knew about Hillbilly Elegy or whatever the [ __ ] Yeah, that was his first book and his new one is Communion.”

“had written about [ __ ] a couch in his book hillbilly elegy because no confirm or disconfirm it's in a book go look it”

“Now fast forward to today when a Twitter account with 17,000 followers made a post claiming that JD Vance, one of our country's most prominent fascists, had written about shit on a couch in his book Hillbilly Elegy, because no confirm or disconfirm, it's in a book, go look it up, no one read that book, so nobody checked it”

“that kind of incredible social Mobility is a lot more rare today you know it's like what hillbilly elegy is about about you know just how unusual it is”

“there's the JD Vance book which I haven't H I haven't gotten it yet but I'll I'll read that at some point to it's really interesting too if you contrast the books that people are reading”

“and then there have been these recent looks at uh kind of the white underclass with hill bology by JD Vance”

“there's the JD Vance book which I haven't Hill I haven't gotten it yet”

“and then you have hillbilly elegy but I really feel like”

“i thought maybe i was going to write a book but i was reading hillbilly elegy by jd bands”