“Hillbilly Elegy,” the controversial memoir by Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, has experienced a surge in sales following former President Donald Trump’s announcement of selecting Vance as his running mate.
The first half of Amazon’s Prime Day, a 48-hour sales event, led to the biggest U.S. e-commerce day of 2024.
Originally sitting at no. 220 on Amazon’s bestseller list, “Hillbilly Elegy” jumped to number one after Trump’s announcement, according to the Associated Press.
Since its 2016 release, Vance’s memoir has sold over 1.5 million copies, a figure experts believe will rise significantly in the near future.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Vance outsells Stephen King this year,” said Allan Salkin, co-owner of the New Books Company, to the Wall Street Journal.
The book explores Vance’s family history in Kentucky and Ohio and examines the cultural and economic shifts that influenced some white working-class voters to switch political affiliations from Democratic to Republican. Topics discussed in “Hillbilly Elegy” include drug addiction, government assistance, and masculinity.
“I felt that if I wrote a very forthright, and sometimes painful, book, that it would open people’s eyes to these very real problems,” Vance said in 2016.
Initially praised by conservative media for its critique of the welfare state and cultural habits attributed to rural whites in poverty, “Hillbilly Elegy” was later used by liberal commentators to understand Trump’s 2016 electoral success.
In 2020, Ron Howard adapted the memoir into a film starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close, which garnered mixed reviews but received two Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Close and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Despite its success, some critics from the region argue that Vance’s portrayal is overly generalized and not reflective of true Appalachian life. Journalist Sarah Jones from the New Republic stated, “‘Elegy’ is little more than a list of myths about welfare queens repackaged as a primer on the white working class. Vance’s central argument is that hillbillies themselves are to blame for their troubles.”
Jones further criticized the book by highlighting the region’s abandonment by the government, saying, “Central Appalachia is a sea of distress. If you are born where I grew up, you have to travel hundreds of miles to find a prosperous America.”