Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

The story of someone who managed to transcend his white trash upbringing that includes a gun-toting grandma that once poured gasoline on his grandfather when he came home drunk once too often - then lit it, to his drug-addicted, 5-time married mother who once begged her own son for clean urine.

But it's thanks to the love of that same grandmother and some key mentors in his life, not to mention his time in the military that saw him graduate Yale Law and become a principal in a San Francisco tech-venture fund.

But Vance never comes off as boastful. It's not a “Look at how successful I've become” story. He's more an embedded journalist that lived for years amongst the disenfranchised, white trash, hillbillies. He shines a light on their learned helplessness and massive blindspots. He talks of folks blaming Obama for their jobless state but seeing them quit jobs because of the inconvenience of getting up early.

Meanwhile Vance's mind is blown at the sheer wealth of opportunity afforded him by simply being white and at Yale. A set of rules that was completely invisible to him before, opens doors effortlessly. He doesn't discount his own work and determination but he knows how lucky he's been.