Biographical bestseller, Netflix film… Before being Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance’s success with “Hillbilly Elegy”

He is described as the voice of a declassed America. The new running mate of the former American president, James David Vance, 39, is not only a Republican senator from Ohio since 2022 but also the author of the book Hillbilly Elegywhich has sold 3 million copies since 2016. This bestseller – which was adapted into a film broadcast on Netflix under the title, in French, d’An American Ode –is no stranger to his appointment alongside Donald Trump.

It was at the prestigious Yale University that JD Vance got the idea for his book. Hillbilly Elegypublished in 2016 and which made him known to the general public. Because before joining Donald Trump’s ticket for the American presidential election, the young man had an atypical career, which would feed the writing of his bestseller, in the great tradition of the “American dream”… and the opposite of Donald Trump, whose father was a millionaire.

James David Vance grew up in a modest single-parent family in Ohio, a state in the “Rust Belt”, a region in the north-east of the United States deeply marked by industrial decline, before entering the army. He then studied law at Yale, one of the most prestigious universities in the country, before making a career in Silicon Valley.

Although the author of Hillbilly Elegy has ceased to be a “hillbilly”, which can be translated as “redneck” or “hillbilly”, he makes heard in his autobiographical work the voice of a white working-class population, disillusioned and downgraded in the north-east of the United States, deeply marked by industrial decline, unemployment and addictions of all kinds.

“He describes with humanity and kindness the harsh life of these ‘little whites’ of the Midwest, these ‘hillbillies’, who are said to be xenophobic and who voted for Donald Trump.”

excerpt from the back cover of “Hillbilly Elegie”

The book, published by Harper’s, quickly became popular and appeared on the best-seller list. New York Times in 2016 and 2017. Hillbilly Elegy was translated into French in 2017, accompanied by this back cover: “‘Where Americans see hillbillies, rednecks or white trash, I see my neighbors, my friends, my family.’ In this work that is both personal and political, JD Vance […] asks essential questions. How can one not eat enough in the richest country in the world? How did America, once democratic, working class and dignified, become Republican, poor and full of resentment? As a direct consequence of its nomination by Donald Trump, sales of the book are on the rise again, climbing to the top of the sales charts on Amazon in the United States.

In 2017, on France Culture, Brice Couturier delivered his review of the book: “Born into the working class, he joined the ranks of the upper middle class, becoming a renowned business lawyer. And that is precisely what his book tells: it is the story of a life trajectory.
But this autobiography is in no way like those exasperating self-celebrations that self-made men who are bored in their 300 m² apartments on Fifth Avenue like to dictate to scribblers. It is a harsh, lucid, uncompromising book, written by a man who has, certainly, crossed over to the other side of the class barrier, but who retains a great tenderness for his community of origin. And it concludes with a series of recommendations on the best way to remedy the misery, both material and moral, into which his people have sunk.

Riding on this success in bookstores, in 2020, Netflix bought the rights to Hillbilly Elegy for a 2020 adaptation. The film An American Ode is directed by Ron Howard and stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close in the lead roles.

The book’s success coincides with the 2016 US presidential election and appears to be an aid to understanding the white working class vote for Donald Trump. According to the columnist for New York TimesRoss Douthat, who had a long interview with JD Vance last June, as reported by Courrier international, he said “was read with attention and gratitude by Trump opponents, who were looking for a window into populism” and he puts forward some explanations for the Maga phenomenon [acronyme de Make America Great Again, “Rendre sa grandeur à l’Amérique“, un des slogans phares de Donald de Trump].

At one time an opponent of the former American president, JD Vance later repented and moved closer to the Trumpist movement. He thus adopted Donald Trump’s major themes, as well as his combative tone and populist discourse, and obtained the billionaire’s support in his campaign for the Senate in 2022.

He, who puts forward his Christian faith as a private and political compass, imposes himself in Congress as a fierce defender of the Republican tycoon, targeted by several criminal and civil proceedings. His book attracts in particular the attention of the eldest son of the former president, Donald Trump Jr., of whom he becomes a close friend. The latter would have played a large role in his nomination as running mate of the Republican candidate for the White House.

If Donald Trump, 78, is elected again next November, this father of three, who has become a popular figure on television sets where he energetically and loyally defends the Republican presidential candidate, will become his vice-president at only 39 years old. JD Vance will then be one of the three youngest people to occupy this position in the history of the United States and will then sign a true American story.