Story highlights
J. D. Vance is a former Marine, a Yale Law School grad and a principal at an investment firm in San Francisco
Vance's memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy" describes growing up in poverty in Eastern Ohio
His family struggled with teenage pregnancy, addiction and violence
Memoir shines a light on the type of communities most supportive of Donald Trump
Thirty-one-year-old J. D. Vance is a former Marine, a graduate of Yale Law School and now a principal at an investment firm in San Francisco. But he wasn’t born into privilege. In his new memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance chronicles his childhood in a poor Rust Belt town in eastern Ohio, and, in turn, documents a culture in crisis.
From a grandmother who in her youth fell pregnant at the age of 14 to a mother struggling with addiction and a father who was often absent, “Hillbilly Elegy” is Vance’s personal story. But it’s also a haunting account of the unique struggles of America’s white working class – the kind of people for whom, Vance emphasizes, the fervor for Donald Trump is particularly strong.
