I really enjoyed J.D. Vance's story of his upbringing in Ohio, mostly raised by his Mamaw and Papaw, since his biological father wasn't in the picture and his mother was an drug addicted lunatic. He and his sister Lindsay were forced to grow up fast, and learned to live by the hillybilly code of honor his grandparents brought with them from Kentucky. He delved into why the Rust Belt is declining and how we don't need more government programs to fix things (amen, brother) but people need to have the strength and courage to fix themselves. I had a somewhat similar upbringing, although I was raised in a fairly affluent area of Southern California, my parents starting abusing drugs when I was 9, leaving me and my younger sister to shift for ourselves. At least J.D. had a network of relatives as a support system, and he credits them with saving his life. He went into the Marines, went to college, and Yale law school, beating the odds (like I did). It was an important story, I'm glad it's been so popular. I think everyone ought to read it.
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