Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Ana Faguy
- Role, BBC News, Washington
As American voters start to familiarise themselves with Donald Trump’s newly announced vice-presidential candidate Ohio Senator JD Vance it is nearly impossible to avoid his memoir.
Written in 2016, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, tells the story of Mr Vance’s upbringing in Middletown, Ohio, to parents who were from the Appalachians in eastern Kentucky.
It explored his first-hand experience of the poverty and addiction of poor, white communities and became a bestseller just as Trump rose to power.
Eight years later, the book has become a new political lightning rod in the 2024 presidential race. Critics say it shows a lack of understanding. Others say it captures the life perfectly.
Fans are also captivated by the book and buying it in large numbers, watching its movie adaptation and claiming it shows Mr Vance is an “everyday” man.
The memoir and film adaptation directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams – which received several Academy Award nominations – may offer voters a glimpse of who Mr Vance is and how he views his upbringing.
The book has become such a popular talking point online that books site Goodreads blocked new reviews after Trump made Mr Vance his running mate.
“Rating this book is temporarily unavailable,” the site says. “This book has temporary limitations on submitting ratings and reviews. This may be because we’ve detected unusual behaviour that doesn’t follow our review guidelines.”
This is likely to stop users from “bombing” the page and negatively or positively reviewing the book on criteria other than its quality.
Goodreads declined to comment when asked by the BBC why ratings had been closed.
Review bombing is a growing phenomenon online. “Eat Pray Love” writer Elizabeth Gilbert last year was a target for a book some readers said was “glorifying” Russians. Gilbert paused publication.
The film adaptation of Mr Vance’s book has been targeted in a similar manner.
Letterboxd, a Goodreads equivalent for film, registered an increase in reviews.
The book, in paperback and hardcover, currently ranks No. 1 and No. 2 on Amazon’s bestseller lists.
The film, which was released in 2020, reached No. 6 on Netflix’s top 10 films the day after Mr Vance’s selection was announced.
