Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I also live in eastern Kentucky, not far from Jackson, but didn't grow up here. I've lived here for over 20 years and have witnessed first hand the people in Vances book. I've lived in Chicago, California and Arizona and have never seen such social hopelessness as in Kentucky. I agree with his conclusion that no government program will stop the continuing cycle of drugs, poverty, teen pregnancy, and the feeling of hopelessness these people have. The cycle repeats from generation to generation with no end in sight. Vance was the exception in finding a way out, largely through the love, guidance and encouragement of his grandmother. She also kept him away from the wrong kind of friends. Very few children in his situation are as lucky. But there also had to be something inside himself that helped him escape. I thought initially that there would be a lot of political bias in his story but there was remarkably little. "People sometimes ask whether I think there’s anything we can do to “solve” the problems of my community. I know what they’re looking for: a magical public policy solution or an innovative government program. But these problems of family, faith, and culture aren’t like a Rubik’s Cube, and I don’t think that solutions (as most understand the term) really exist.....Public policy can help, but there is no government that can fix these problems for us....I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better." That about sums it up. The book was spot on and I highly recommend it.