Middletown native and author J.D. Vance is discussing and signing copies of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Reading Garden Lounge at the Main Library.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating more than 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
A deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
Books are available for purchase courtesy of Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Vance is signing books for a limited time only. This event is free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Vance’s appearance is part of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Author Series. For details about other upcoming author visits, go to CincinnatiLibrary.org/authors.
About the Author
J.D. Vance is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. He grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served in Iraq. A graduate of the Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he has contributed to the National Review and is a principal at a leading Silicon Valley investment firm. Vance lives in San Francisco with his wife and two dogs.
