This book is…. Something!!! I read it thinking maybe I’d gain more insight into my family and the culture I also grew up in, but I didn’t. Maybe this book has more value for those who didn’t grow up in mostly white, rural, economically disadvantaged areas. While I related to the events in his story (absent parents who struggled with mental health crises and addiction and didn’t go to college, being raised by tough yet loving grandparents, a butter knife isn’t decorative, learning how to network and navigate nepotism and classist gatekeeping) I didn’t and don’t relate to his commentary on the American meritocracy. At one point, while attempting to explain the rural, white, conservative hatred of Obama without bringing up race, he says the meritocracy was meant for Obama, but not for people where he grew up (Vance literally was able to turn himself into a wealthy venture capitalist by using the meritocracy), but fails to realize that ALL of the reasons he lists for his community’s hatred of Obama are inextricably tied to race: he isn’t a citizen, he’s a Muslim, doesn’t have a birth certificate, etc.

I appreciated his more middle-of-the-road takes within the world of the conservative right, but also struggled with his analysis of the Iraq war. I cannot get the part out of my head where he says he and his fellow marines worked to protect poll workers in Iraq without once espousing their political views… as if our military presence in Iraq wasn’t political to begin with.

Ultimately, I couldn’t separate Vance’s current political platform from the beliefs he claims in this book and couldn’t keep myself from wondering if anything he wrote about being measured, thoughtful, and intentional was actually true. He used to vehemently criticize, but now supports trump (who wholeheartedly supported claims that Barack Obama isn’t a citizen and is Muslim) and other nonsense (“fake president”/stolen election). He cites research on ACE scores and quotes Nadine Burke Harris and is now “anti-woke,” anti-choice, and anti-latiné????

While I don’t have the answers or explanation for the plight of working class and poor, rural whites in America, I also don’t think this is it.