"I'm not sure what I am getting wrong about Appalachia and I just finished this book. The author didn't seem to know where she wanted to go with this aside from getting it out the door to capitalize on the enthusiasm about "Hillbilly Elegy." It had a very haphazard "structure" that never really answered the question. I think she assumed the reader knew a lot more about Appalachian history than most do. Unfortunately she kept comparing it to a book that was simply a wonderful read, which I never took to be a cultural assessment of a few million people but rather a story that may not be entirely unique. At least it was a quick read."

"She gives voice to my issues with "Hillbilly Elegy" ("In Elegy...white Appalachians take on the qualities of an oppressed minority much in the same way that conservative individuals view African Americans: as people who have suffered hardships, but ultimately are only holding themselves back. This construction allows conservative intellectuals to talk around stale stereotypes of African Americans and other nonwhite individuals while holding up the exaggerated degradations of a white group thought to defy evidence of white privilege."), BUT she is in DIRE need of an editor. Maybe two or three editors. Stories start halfway through and expect you to know references to the region's history. Many references are not explained. Many of her points begin and end somewhere in the middle. A lot of her language feels constructed and academic. She makes valid points that an entire region of 10-20 million people can not be classified by one archetype, but if she could make those points much simpler and more straight forward, she would have a much stronger book."