I have no political analysis or opinion to offer here, but I do want to say that I read Hillbilly Elegy when it came out and I thought it was beautiful. What is interesting is that, in 2017, a lot of people said, “Hey, if you want to understand why Trump won, read this book.” Also, Tyler Cowen has a great post at his Marginal Revolution about why Trump is currently on the upswing. One of his points is that Trump is funny – he is a comic. And I think that is true, and I don’t only mean unintentionally (though at times he is unintentionally funny). He actually has great comic delivery – he can be downright Jackie Mason-esque. Someone (John Podhoretz?) wrote a column – probably in 2016 – about how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump represented different 1960s eras: Hillary is the late decade, or Laugh-In; Trump is Borscht Belt, or early decade, pre-JFK assassination. True! Another point about Vance is that I appreciate the Amy Chua connection – I’m such a fan of hers, and apparently, she encouraged him to write Hillbilly Elegy and later introduced him to his (impressive) wife. Chua is known for her non-fiction writing, but I want to recommend a historical mystery/police novel she wrote – The Golden Gate. I am dazzled by writers who can be excellent in different genres.