J. D. Vance’s New York Times bestseller, Hillbilly Elegy, is a compelling memoir about what it’s like growing up poor in the Rust Belt. A Marine veteran and Yale graduate, Vance tells the story of his family’s rise out of poverty in Appalachia and their struggle to claim a middle-class life in a slowly fading Ohio steel town. Through the lens of personal experience, Vance explores the lasting effects of poverty, substance abuse, and domestic violence on future generations. He shines a light on the hopelessness and despair of people who were promised the American dream only to watch it slip beyond their grasp.