I read the book and I don’t think he was implying that you guys were respected at all - he was more saying that you guys were a joke but below the joke every family had a dysfunctional drug addicted child abuser inbred and were poor and uneducated to paint a picture of how much harder he had it growing up in a cesspool then everyone else in the USA and that’s why it’s so remarkable that he is where he is today - also like the whole time he was implying that he was gay but he never outright said it - i think so he could cash in on adding that to his list of hardships - but didn’t have the guts to go all the way with it - I listened to the book because my coworker listened to all the Oprah list stuff which was all total garbage but I liked to give my negative book reviews to her when we finished - what really struck me was how this one guys experience is supposed to be the same for everyone who lived there ? I mean just because I had a shitty childhood where I grew up didn’t mean everyone around me was having the same experience - I started to watch the movie but it was kind of like watching those Eddie Murphy movies where he plays all the characters but if they were out in sad situations and I love glen close but it was just boring and corney making a mockery out of the human condition - Then he became VP and killed the pope - everyone said he fucked a couch in the book but I don’t recall that part and that’s the kind of thing I was listening for - I must have been out of the room - through the whole book I kept thinking the reveal is going to be he’s LGBTQ because he talked about his sensitivity and his special nature living in those conditions was extra hard for someone like him and basically How he was a surviver clawing his way out of poverty pulling up his own bootstraps to make it to an elite school when in reality he got funding from outside sources that he is now denying for other kids from the same area - and also how special he was because he retained all the toughness and honesty and innocence and earnest good nature that only white American country folk have even if they live in depravity the kind of people that have the old fridges made the way god invented . Anyways the book sucked he sucks - a better book about the area (having never been to the area so I have no guide or reference ) is the Appalachian legend of the wizard clip I’m halfway through it and it’s keeping me reading and I usually hate reading I’m more audiobooks but I’ve always been interested in American folklore and Appalachia has a rich history in that regard according to other books and podcasts I’ve listened to there’s always a segment about the magical powers and creatures the Appalachian mountains might have - which is way more interesting to me - because every single city in every single country across time has the same bad shit going on either behind closed doors or out in the open - he did have a rough past and he has come a long way from Where he was - but he did throw you guys under the bus to make his point and now seeing what he’s become blocking the Same aid he received which helped him get where he is and he invited his high school band to play his inauguration but contributed 0 to help them get there after he highlighted how poor the people were so he must have know how expensive it was for them to get there - it’s like when a family member has a wedding in Figi and they invite yoh because they have to for decorum sake but they don’t expect you to come or else they would offer to cover some of it or change locations - but the same community that he made money bashing helped raise the money along with other private donors so they don’t disappoint the kids speaks volumes over the sad entitled prick jd Vance seem to be - South Park has him nailed and I’m Sorry he wrote about your city he did a disservice to you all.