An elegy by definition is “a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.”
J.D. Vance’s new memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Early on he says the book is about how this culture (Kentucky Appalachia and Ohio Rust Belt) is known for “reacting to bad circumstances in the worst way possible. It’s about a culture that increasingly encourages social decay instead of counteracting it.”
Vance can talk about these problems in a way others can’t get away with because he lived through it himself and somehow came out a Yale-educated lawyer.
. Did you know research shows trees behave like human families and human communities? Tree parents live with their children, communicating and supporting them. The trees in a undisturbed forest also function socially, helping the sick and warning each other of dangers.
was certainly out of my comfort zone, revolving around electricity, patent law, and Wall Street.
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is the first Ann Patchett novel I’ve read…since I’ve spent the last several years 
especially since I nearly abandoned it after 200 pages…this book is the longest work of fiction I can remember reading since 
was the author Amor Towles’ first book which has equally good reviews, so I think it’s a safe bet as well for gifting. I’ve already requested both of these so I can keep them in my library forever!
is by the show’s creator so I’m hoping it will fill some of the void. I plan to read it with my Downtown Abbey group in the new year.