‘Hillbilly Elegy’: Best-selling author J.D. Vance on faith in Appalachia

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J.D. Vance is the author of "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," which has been on The New York Times Best Sellers list for four weeks. Image courtesy of HarperCollins.

By Kelsey Dallas | 4 hours ago

(Deseret News) J.D. Vance grew up with God but, except for a few years as a teen, without church. His family members rarely found themselves in a pew on Sunday morning, and they didn’t turn to faith leaders for help in times of crisis.

Contrary to popular opinion, this approach to religious life is relatively widespread in so-called hillbilly country, or the region of the U.S. that stretches along the Appalachian Mountains, according to Vance, who grew up in southern Ohio. Families talk about God but don’t trust religious institutions.

In his New York Times best-seller, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” Vance sheds light on the world he grew up in, exploring how social policies and other factors affect some of the poorest communities in the U.S.

A principal at a Silicon Valley investment firm, Vance, 32, was mostly raised in Middletown, Ohio, by his grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw, while his mom struggled with drug addiction. He nearly failed out of high school, but regrouped and made his way to the Marine Corps, college and then Yale Law School.

http://religionnews.com/2016/09/08/hillbilly-elegy-best-selling-author-j-d-vance-on-faith-in-appalachia/