Welcome to Litsy!

#whereareyoumonday sees me in Appalachia!

Catte talks about the region as a whole and as individual areas. Really enjoying this take on what Vance got wrong with “Hillbilly Elegy.“

@Cupcake12

Written in response to a certain Elegy, this book explores the depth and diversity of people in Appalachia then goes on the look at the narrow views of three previous writers and how they are in conversation with specific racists/eugenicists. Interesting book/rebuke.

Great book! 😬

There‘s so much that “you” (media/Hillbilly Elegy/politicians) get wrong about Appalachia. It‘s a far-reaching area full of complex people w varied identities. I live in + love Appalachia, but have issues with how the culture is portrayed. In some aspects, it IS the place full of backwards hill people. This book aims to highlight everything Hillbilly Elegy blamed on individuals rather than the real entities at fault: the government + corporations

I find this short volume to be a very interesting and illuminating read about the complexities that are inherent when a writer engages with Appalachia. I find it whets my appetite for learning more about the region. I do think the author at times betrays her anger at JD Vance and his book Hillbilly Elegy, and that pulls me just a bit out of the point she is trying to make. Overall, a really good read.

Today I Learned that the term "redneck" actually came from a 1920s coal worker's rebellion, and now songs like "Red Neck Woman" seem gross.

#TheMoreYouKnow

#dogsoflitsy

I thought this book was an excellent, concise answer to many of the more controversial points about Appalachia from Hillbilly Elegy. If you‘ve read that one, I highly recommend this one as a follow up! This was also my book about Appalachia for #ReadingWomenChallenge

Good morning! 🌞

The article below has a less myopic and biased view than both Vance and Catte.

@seanholeary1/hillbilly-whisperers-j-d-vance-elizabeth-catte-and-reality-in-appalachia-28c22a7d6897" rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://medium.com/@seanholeary1/hillbilly-whisperers-j-d-vance-elizabeth-catte-...

@MelissaSue81

Catte says her book is a rebuttal of Hillbilly Elegy. While I had a laundry list of issues with Elegy, Catte doesn‘t present a great counter argument. She spends most of her time saying Vance was wrong, that she didn‘t like his book, and he misrepresented Appalachia. But she doesn‘t do much more than say Vance was incorrect and blames industry and politics for the problems facing the region. Her rebuttals fell flat and felt stale.

@MelissaSue81

“While reading Greek poetry, my professors warned us to be careful of the double meaning of elegies; they were, it seems, often written as political propaganda.”
The author does talk about hillbilly elegy in this book, but I enjoyed the history lesson. I‘m aware of how corporations have tried to destroy Appalachia over the yrs but didn‘t know the details. Right now, Senator Rand Paul is trying to privatize part of preserved forest in eastern KY.

Catte is an historian. Her historical knowledge and perspectives in this book are interesting and accurate at least in her view. However, her tone, and purpose writing this book, was to tell us all how pissed off she is about Hillbilly Elegy. I don‘t know that I‘ve ever read a book whose sole purpose it was to tell me how wrong another book/author is. To me, just because Catte is right, doesn‘t mean that Vance is wrong.

I went back to find my review on Hillbilly Elegy after starting this audiobook.. My memory of Elegy was more of a personal story than characterizing the whole region, but I when I listened to it I had other thoughts. And well, this book definitely answers my question. 🤣🤣.

Ummmmm...... considering the author of What You're Getting Wrong spends a lot of time talking about how the myth of Scots-Irish homogeneity in Appalachia is used to further white supremacy and eugenics, this recommendation feels deeply wrong.

Interesting and informative regarding our Appalachian roots and the ongoing struggle to drag our region forward. This book made me miss the area in which I grew up. I'm not that far away, being now in northeast Tennessee but miss southeastern Kentucky something fierce sometimes. The coal mines have been all but gone for years now, having taken most everything else with them. The corporate influence and continued greed is all too evident there.

I‘ve just finished the introduction to this book and I am already bowled over. Sharp, candid, unapologetic writing. This is going to be so good. I‘m reading for @thereadingwomen challenge, but it would also be a great choice for #Booked2019, related to a podcast, since the aforementioned Reading Women interviewed the author, last year.

It's little but it packs a huge punch 👊

Very edifying. Would love to hear what she has to say about Educated.

This is quite tricky for me to review - coming from rural Britain, I wasn‘t the target audience, but I found it fascinating &, at times, shocking. Written as a response to post-2016 commentary on Appalachia, esp. Hillbilly Elegy, Catte looks at more diverse aspects of the region, the histories, stereotypes, & systemic issues which have impacted the area.

Followed up with the author discussion on @thereadingwomen podcast, which I recommend!👇

I‘m skipping #litsywalkers today, because it‘s ‘orrible out there! But here‘s my pic from yesterday - I got 1.5 miles in while it was dry/sunny/calm.

Also started another audiobook. This is really interesting, but (knowing virtually nothing about Appalachia) I might not be the target market. And the audio‘s just ok - she sounds like she‘s reading it. But I seem to be on a nf spree at the moment, so will definitely finish it.

This is a must for those left cold (or simmering with rage) by Hillbilly Elegy. I thought it was a great response and a well-written, data-grounded, vital cultural analysis in its own right. And I loved how the author freely expressed her fierce love for her home region (despite its undeniable problems) and her anger about how it‘s been exploited and misrepresented over many decades (like by Vance, with his “asinine beliefs and associations”🔥).

Well below freezing yet I still walked like over an hour! #litsywalkers

#litsywalkers going to be a low step day I think. I forgot my counter, but it's very cold out so I am doing a few laps inside my work building (which is large) so I can get a mile or 2 in at least. Gotta go to the gym tonight and the grocery store so won't have time to walk after work. It's been a busy week! Just started this new audiobook.

Here is a peek inside my TBR cabinet for the year. Many of the challenge books will be digital and/or public library borrows, but reading from my own, physical library is my favorite. Having everything catalogued on LibraryThing has made planning for five different challenges MUCH simpler!

Interesting, expertly researched counterweight to Hillbilly Elegy and “Trump Country” pieces stereotyping Appalachia and Appalachians as monolithic, white, and republican. Touches on union history, local activism, and environmental organizing in the face of “othering” by national and corporate interests.

So far, an interesting viewpoint, and strong rebuttal to Hillbilly Elegy

This book has helped round out my knowledge of the people of Appalachia & it has given me a more more wholistic view of the region. It is a rebuttal to the one person view represented in the book “Hillbilly Elegy”. There is so much information packed into 132 pages. Much still to think about. #opencanonbookclub #wileycash

If you read Hillbilly Elegy, please read this. Elegy made me so angry and this was the antidote. Catte delves into why elegy is problematic, including Vance‘s agenda and the stereotypes he traffics in. Her Appalachia, the one I now live in, is more complete - in a concise volume includes labor, community organizing, environmentalism, and the history of exploitation. An important read for those who want a true picture of Appalachia.

Picked up this book about Appalachia from Union Ave Books, the lovely independent bookstore in Knoxville, TN.

Book review for What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia
by Elizabeth Catte
Check out the full review here:
http://www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2018/11/review-what-you-are-getting-wrong-abo...
#athinsliceofanxiety #appalachianmountains #activism #appalchia #whatyouaregettingwrongaboutappalachia #elizabethcatte #myregion #mypeople

Surprise addition to today‘s #bookhaul. #hillbillystudies

Currently reading
#athinsliceofanxiety #amreading #appalachia #whatyouaregettingwrongaboutappalachia #elizabethcatte #mypeople

I‘m really happy I read this before Hillbilly Elegy. It‘s going to make me think more critically about that book. This one I really enjoyed though because it gave me a different perspective on the region while also not being afraid to explain exactly what‘s going on. The author is also willing to point out when things are too polarized on either side of the political field.

#scribd #audiobook #workout #exercisebook #huffletuff #mpls #twincities

I originally had Hillbilly Elegy as one of my next workout books but scribd is doing that dumb thing making everything unavailable so I picked this up instead. So happy I did! Can‘t wait to continue listening!

#scribd #audiobook #workout #exercise #huffltuff #Appalachia #mpls #twincities

Book 3 #reversereadathon

Overall, this book is a powerful response to JD Vance. The material on the repeating narrative of Appalachia is the most interesting.

This little book rocked my world. Required reading for anyone who‘s read Hillbilly Elegy.

Book haul from my local indie today! So excited! Added to my Olive Edition collection plus picked up 3 titles I have been eying!

I‘m the daughter of 2 former WV public school teachers. Reading this book this weekend in solidarity of all the teachers striking there this week.

Catte does an excellent job of making the history of Appalachia accessible here and tying this into present narratives about Appalachia. This is the book you should be reading about Appalachia not that ‘Hillbilly‘ one.