Hundreds of thousands of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ sold after author JD Vance’s selection as veep candidate

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump's selection of JD Vance as his running mate has led to a surge in sales for “Hillbilly Elegy,” his best-selling memoir that originally came out in 2016. “I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve accomplished nothing great in my life, certainly nothing that could justify a complete stranger spending money to read about,” writes Vance in the introduction to the book which has now become a kind of prophecy. “I am not a senator, a governor, or a cabinet secretary.” open image in gallery Books Hillbilly Elegy The adaptation “Hillbilly Elegy,” which Ron Howard adapted into a feature film released in 2020, tells of Vance's childhood in Ohio and his family's roots in rural Kentucky. By ignoring the very specific politics and personal observations that made the book allegedly valuable as a memoir, the film negates its very reason for existing.” After Donald Trump's victory in 2016, the book was widely cited as essential reading for Trump opponents trying to understand his appeal to working class whites, even as some critics faulted at as a narrow and misleading portrait of Appalachia and of poverty in the United States.