Hillbilly Elegy summary

J.D.’s uncle describes the childhood home he shared with Bev, J.D.’s mother, as a happy middle-class household. But to an outside observer, his rosy description seems wide of the mark. In fact, it was constantly on the verge of collapse. Here’s the story:

Bev was born in 1961 and, by the mid-1960s, her father’s drinking had gotten out of control. One Christmas Eve, Papaw returned home drunk, demanding a freshly cooked dinner. When one failed to materialize, he hurled the family’s Christmas tree out the back door.

Around the same time J.D. was taking his first steps, his parents were filing for divorce. For several years after they split up, his father was increasingly estranged and, at the age of six, the young boy was adopted by Bob, his mother’s new husband.

During the same period, his mother got her nursing license. While she had never gone to college, she had a deep commitment to education. She overloaded him with books, and his family was generally a happy one.

J.D. grew up with a constantly changing cast of father figures as his mom swapped boyfriends frequently. But there was always one stable male force in his life: his grandfather, Papaw.

Papaw would practice math with him and although he had failed to do so himself, taught him to respect women.

Now in Miamisburg, at the home of his mother’s new husband Ken, J.D. felt trapped in a stranger’s house. He had never felt so lonely in his life.

Naturally, his grades reflected this feeling, and he nearly dropped out of high school. But luckily for him, his mom’s relationship with Ken wouldn’t last. When they broke up, he moved back in with Mamaw. Living with her for the next three years would save his life.

While he was in the Marines, J.D.’s grandmother passed away. She was a longtime smoker and, at 71, her lungs simply gave out. It’s probably already clear that Mamaw was the best thing that ever happened to him, and the effort she’d put in paid off.

In large part thanks to her support, he started college at Ohio State University in 2007. He was thrilled to begin this new chapter and to make a home for himself in Columbus.

During his time at Yale, J.D. fell for a classmate. Her name was Usha, and they would soon start dating, helping him to feel at home in his new Ivy League environment. The significance of this transformation really can’t be overstated since Yale is all about who you know.

His experiences in this environment taught him about what economists call social capital – the networks of people and institutions that humans use to their economic benefit. After all, at Yale, networking is as natural as breathing. Students don’t submit résumés upon graduating; they just know people. As a result, they can shoot a friend an email or have their uncle make a call, and count on a job or at least an interview.