Fact-Checking J.D. Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Sales for Hillbilly Elegy, the 2016 memoir written by J.D. Vance, are soaring again after the Ohio senator was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate. The Onion revisits and fact-checks the bestseller.

Claim: Vance’s first job was at a grocery store.
True: Vance has an unmistakable bag boy physique.
Claim: Kentucky and Ohio share a border.
True: We looked at a map and apparently this is true, but it still feels wrong.
Claim: Vance writes, “What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations they have for their own lives.”
False: The genetic marker for success is located in the q.7831.2 band of chromosome 17.
Claim: J.D. Vance feels empathy for Appalachian Americans.
Partially true: J.D. Vance only feels empathy for J.D. Vance.
Claim: Vance was deployed to Iraq as a Marine, but did not see combat.
False: Vance modestly plays down his record 448 confirmed kills.
Claim: Vance was the first member of his family to attend college.
True: But it was only Ohio State, so let’s not freak out about it.
Claim: Government assistance programs perpetuate a cycle of dependency.
False: Checks for $15 million from Peter Thiel do.
Claim: Vance was considered tall and handsome by classmates.
True: There is simply no reason anyone would lie about this.
Claim: J.D. Vance was the first woman to fly solo in an airplane.
False: Though this inaccuracy was due to a HarperCollins printing error.
Claim: Growing up poor helped J.D. Vance build character.
False: As demonstrated by the author’s career trajectory.
Claim: You read Hillbilly Elegy.
Partially true: You read an op-ed about Hillbilly Elegy.