Appalachian Reckoning reads like a textbook. While the premise is interesting, it's too academic for general reading, better for educational purposes. I skimmed through because it's too much and would take way too long to read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy, is a work of academia that is a vast and thoroughly researched compilation of responses to the portrayal of Appalachia and its culture by J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy. These responses consist of various reflections on life and the experience of Appalachia. It is an interesting treatise.

In general the responses to Hillbilly Elegy Set forth in this work are critical. While acknowledging the personal nature of Vance's experience as portrayed in his book, the contributors admonish him for reinforcing stereotypes and reducing a group of people to a cultural caricature.

This book portrays Appalachia as a whole. Presenting the perspectives of those who have lived there all their lives as well as those who have left and returned. We are presented with a culture of both dysfunctional families, and those of close knit healthy familial relationships. We also hear from the people of color in Appalachia, a viewpoint notably absent from Hillbilly Elegy.

Thank you to NetGalley and West Virginia University Press for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A thorough compilation of various reflections on life and the experience of Appalachia and responses to the portrayal of Appalachia and its culture in J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy."

The response to the book is generally critical: the contributors recognize the work as reflective of Vance's personal experience, but they (rightly) take him to task for reinforcing stereotypes in his work, reducing a group of people to a cultural caricature, completely neglecting the experiences of people of color and others in the region, and using the whole story to push a particular political ideology without a full reckoning of the many factors which have led to dysfunction in many Appalachian communities. The authors are also critical of the response to Vance's work, since it tends to reinforce stereotypes and the socio-cultural hierarchies already in place: look at all those poor little people over there in their dysfunctional culture; this is why Trump was elected; etc. A few of the contributors do well at tracing how Vance's work is just one in a series which has done the same thing to the way people look at Appalachia.

The work instead embodies a much more holistic and nuanced portrayal of Appalachia, from those who grew up and stayed, from those who grew up and left, and those who grew up, left, and returned. We hear the experiences of people of color in Appalachia. We hear from those who experienced its religion or the lack thereof; we hear from those who grew up in dysfunction and from those whose family lives were healthier. People's flaws are very apparent - but we also see many of their virtues, their perseverance, and the ability to look at the culture without pathologizing it.

One walks away from this book with a much better view of what Appalachia is all about, although even here the work is still somewhat academic, written by what is ultimately the elite to explain the land to the elite elsewhere. But so such studies go.

If you really liked "Hillbilly Elegy," you owe it to intellectual honesty and integrity to consider this work and use it to balance how one views and speaks of Appalachia.

Some really good writing about life in the appalachians. Nicely laid out so you can read as you want.

This book is written by academics for academics. I believe that the narrative of "Hillbilly Elegy" needs to be countered with a more progressive viewpoint on Appalachia, but this book won't appeal to the general reader. We really need a single author, with strong narrative skills, to write that book.

It was hard to get into this book at first. I read the Vance book and really hated it so I was excited for this rebuttal of sorts. But, it was written a bit like an over-enthusiastic college student writes their senior thesis -- in the I'm smart so I'm going to prove it way. Once I got used to that it proved a point, that all of Appalachia is not backwoods hillbillies that marry their cousins in between jail visits like Vance wanted to portray. Anyhoo, it was an ok book and I'm glad i read it.
I was given an e-ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

Point well taken. I read the Vance book and didn't give to much thought to the whole, if that makes any sense. I live in the Rust Belt, yet I wouldn't categorize the entire region as down and out, illiterate, etc... I, and many others, are educated and solidly middle class, though maybe not living in McMansions, or driving luxuary cars, etc... Appalachia isn't any different. And it's always been made of many different ethic groups. Over all, I did enjoy the book, and the backlash to it caught me by surprise! In hind sight, I guess the book was a gross generalization of the region.
I enjoyed this book, too, though. Lots of new perspectives- always a good thing! Poetry, too. Nice collection of views and opinions, covers a nice cross section of society.
What has struck me about both books though is the opioid crisis in Appalachia. 40-50 years ago, I don't recall the inner city heroin crisis getting quite as much attention. And I don't think the opioid issue id limited to or greater in Appalachia than anywhere else. I read the crisis was worse in Ohio, in general, than anywhere else, but N.E. Ohio certainly isn't Appalachian.
I'm guessing there will always be social problems and not all will be solved. Some folks will just get lucky breaks, through both dogged determination, being i the right place at the right time, hard work, etc...Sometimes the gods just smile on someone. Both books have merit in my opinion and I found both enlightening.

This book was advertised as being a response to “Hillbilly Elegy” which has received such acclaim. I guess it was, but it was really much more than that and gave more scholarly research and information. The author compares and contrasts the information in Hillbilly Elegy with other works written about the same area in Kentucky (or similar areas in W. Virginia), notably the Pulitzer Prize winning journalistic series by Eric Eyre and “Methland” by Nick Reding. It’s an interesting and scholarly treatise and worthy of study and debate.

I received this Kindle edition as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, West Virginia University Press, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice academic response to Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. If a reader is expecting an equal memoir to Vance's Elegy, this book is not it. The authors/editors, Harkins and McCarroll are both well-respected in their fields and the book is well-researched. This book contains various perspectives of Appalachian people on the issues they face and the long-held myths that are believed about their area. As an educator, I would recommend this book for anyone that wants to develop more awareness about various cultures and cultural norms. As a native Kentuckian, I would like to have seen more varied perspectives within the book. I would like to thank the publisher for an advanced copy of this wonderful book to review.

I'm so grateful for this book. As a community member and a social sciences professor at a college in a rural and impoverished county, I was so frustrated with the easy acceptance and celebration of Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. Appalachian Reckoning counters this with consideration, familiarity with wider literature and research, and the bringing together of various voices -- rather than a self-appointed one to speak for all.

I am a native New Yorker Appalachia and it’s people I’d far from my daily life & ive always been curious about the people their lives.I read Hillbilly Elegy and can understand why they might not feel this is fair portrait of their loves.These essays gave me another eye opening view of what they feel life there is truly about.#netgalley#westvirginiaupress

A book refuting and responding to JD Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy, is a much needed addition to the discussion of what Appalachian culture is and is not. I was delighted to see this book. There's a wide variety of writing in this collection. Readers may want to pick and choose what appeals to them. I found some of the essays a bit too academic for my tastes.

My only big complaint was that the book focused too much on JD Vance himself. About a quarter the way into the book, I was exhausted from hearing about him. After setting up the premise of rebutting Hillbilly Elegy and its popularity, I would have preferred to simply hear a contemporary discussion and definition of Appalachian culture. Nonetheless, congrats to the editors and publisher for making this book happen.

Thoughtful and well-arranged. I am a rural educator and appreciated this reply to a less than pleasing vision of Appalachia. This is a book I enjoyed, was able to navigate with ease because of the organization, and will use in my own work about this region.

Highly recommended for readers who are interested in a vision of rural life that is balanced, erudite, and well-rounded. This book is scholarly and accessible.