This book disappointed me. I was initially compelled, hopeful, but the insight was very short of paradigm shifting and the memoir section was almost tedious. My parents were from Preble county Ohio, (a county he mentions), and my own background is similar. So I was open to this book, and many of his anecdotes and expressions are familiar to me.
While advertised as some kind of manifesto for the rust belt, it is more of a memoir and less of a discerning social critique. To extrapolate a culture from a single representative of one family is arrogant and short sighed. Such a thing can only be done in a perceptive work of fiction. He tries though, because he made it big time. Guess where? Yale. He will tell you that 1000 times.
Yet I also found it hard to care about another white male's journey to the upper echelons. And these accomplishments didn't give him a soul. Yet between the military and Yale his was institutionally delivered. Despite the vulnerability he professes at times, he is smugly proud of himself, and so in awe of the just powers of the ivy league and upward mobility. The lack of self-doubt is dangerous, for all hillbillies and others no matter where they have landed on the social ladder.
His family recollections were sweet and sincere, and reflective. Though in this bleak world your childhood would have to be grim to make most people blink. Not that a memoir should be a horror show contest of childhood, but my sense was that his was unstable but not Oprah book club bad. So how far he had to climb could be a matter of contention. But his grandparents are delightful, and this passages have humor and empathy.
The social analysis part, however, lacked imagination. He applies popular research from sociology 101 research that targets the urban poor (learned helplessness, failure of schools, standard social problems, etc) and transplants it rural white America. Nothing he mentions will be new to a reasonably well-read person. It is too his credit perhaps that he describes when he cannot explain.
Overall, I did find it thought provoking, and I can see why it is a popular book club selection. I found him obnoxious at times. Having spent a few years in the Middle East I think he is rather glib on the military part as well.
Whatever is wrong with America is beyond the scope of this book. It is a starting point, albeit a shallow one, and I hope a better-researched book that feels more mature and authentic will be written on this subject soon. However, the memoir part has more merit.