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.
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