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The main flaw I found with "Hillbilly Elegy" was that the author seems to generalize, whether intentionally or not, with the result that many readers not too familiar with Appalachian culture and the history of outmigration to the industrial cities to the north assume that his family is typical of all of the many Kentucky mountain families who followed that migration path.
They're not. They're, well, trashy. Potty mouthed. Alcohol abusers. Violent towards one another. Unstable. Erratic. Inconsistent. Loving, well, yes, sort of, but self-centered, and easily triggered.
In fact, much of Vance's description of his kinfolks comes perilously close to the tired old hillbilly stereotype, and I'm not just talking about his title. His conclusions may be valid for his own family and his personal situation and experience - but they cannot be as broadly applied as some have done after reading this book, and the people he describes are atypical of the people of Eastern Kentucky.
What IS consistent is the strong ties to "back home", and the frequent trips home to the mountains from the north. That's spot-on - you can still see lots and lots of Ohio plates on cars heading down I-75 every Friday evening - the flow reverses on late Sunday afternoons. Also accurate is the feeling of being exiled - strangers in a strange land - and never feeling at home in the northern industrial cities, despite years of residence. Home is still the mountains...
I heard Vance speak at a book fair a couple of years ago, and since this was the Kentucky Book Fair, he drew a large audience of readers, literate and articulate people - Kentuckians - many of whom questioned him closely about just these issues. He seemed much more moderate in person than in his writing, I was glad to see, but time ran out before all the questions got asked and answered.
Vance's book is provocative, and that may be a good thing - but it is also damaging, unless readers take the time to read more, look further and learn more, ideally by talking with people from eastern Kentucky whose families moved to Ohio or Detroit fifty or so years ago.
I hope Senator Booker will do just that, and not accept Vance's book as absolute gospel.
Booker is not "liberal" and those "general philosophies" are absolutely NOT representative of Dems.
So yes, I'm questioning your cartoonish, silly claims.
He's a registered Democrat last time I checked.
So yes, Booker's praise of a book written by a Republican's inspirational story of hard work, self-reliance, and determination without Democratic handouts is highly ironic.
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