The next Bellevue Rotary Book Group discussion will be Wednesday, October 11, from 7:00‑9:00PM. Thanks to Elaine Heller for offering to host this meeting. The next book for discussion will be the best seller (currently #2 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list), “Hillbilly Elegy,” by J.D. Vance.

If you have an ODD numbered birth year, please bring a bottle of wine to share.

If you (your partner) plan on participating, please RSVP to Margaret Doman.

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A sampling of reviews:

“A compassionate, discerning sociological analysis … Combining thoughtful inquiry with firsthand experience, Mr. Vance has inadvertently provided a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election, and he’s done so in a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans. Imagine that.” (Jennifer Senior, New York Times)

“[Hillbilly Elegy] is a beautiful memoir, but it is equally a work of cultural criticism about white working-class America … [Vance] offers a compelling explanation for why it’s so hard for someone who grew up the way he did to make it … a riveting book.” (Wall Street Journal)

“[Vance’s] description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history.” (David Brooks, New York Times)

“[Hillbilly Elegy] couldn’t have been better timed … a harrowing portrait of much that has gone wrong in America over the past two generations … an honest look at the dysfunction that afflicts too many working-class Americans.” (National Review)