We’ve heard a lot about polls lately, and although polls certainly have their place, spontaneous sales of print and streaming content oftentimes speak louder.
In the week following the announcement that J.D. Vance would be former president and current GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s pick as running mate in the upcoming 2024 election, book sales of Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy rose a humongous 13,000%.
And that’s not all. During the week following the announcement, 197,000 print copies flew off the shelves, and the book became the No. 1 seller across all genres.
Additionally, when the e-book and audio book sales are taken into consideration, over 650,000 copies of “Hillbilly Elegy” were purchased during that monumental week, bringing the total sales since its release to more than 3 million copies.
Current demand has been so great at retail outlets that to meet the increased need the publisher, HarperCollins, has ordered a new print run consisting of hundreds of thousands of copies.
Back in 2016 the phenomenal success of Hillbilly Elegy catapulted Vance into the celebrity realm long before he entered the political arena. Readers of the book loved it and spread the word of its unique story.
Vance’s real life tale is a compelling one.
A fatherless home, a mother who fell prey to drug addiction, a poverty that defies description, a rescue by family members, an ascent to Marine Corps manhood, an undergraduate college advancement, and a Yale Law school trophy.
Truly the embodiment of the American dream.
The book also provides something else: A window into the Appalachian culture, featuring virtues to be treasured as well as vices to overcome. So reminiscent of sociological traits that are seen in various other multi-cultures across our country.
This all lends to the relatability and, of course, the popularity of Vance’s life story.
His backstory has been routinely cited by a wide variety of political experts (including his present political opponents) in an attempt to more fully understand the Trump campaign victory in 2016.
The candid portrait of Appalachia in particular and of rural poverty in general has helped many to appreciate the appeal of the former president to the forgotten members of the working class.
Interestingly, the critics heaped praise on Vance’s book.
The book’s original title is Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
In 2020 Hollywood produced a film adaptation of the book with the shortened title Hillbilly Elegy.
The movie was released in select cinemas before its streaming release on Netflix. It was the most-watched film on the site the first day of its release, before finishing third in its debut weekend.
Glenn Close portrays Vance’s “Mamaw” (which in 2021 earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination), Amy Adams plays Vance’s mother, and Gabriel Basso portrays the teen version of J.D.
Despite having the Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and a stellar cast, many in the film critic community slammed the movie. The aggregated critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website gave the film an unduly low 25% rating.
However, much like the book, after the announcement that Vance had been selected to be the GOP vice presidential nominee, the movie almost immediately trended on Netflix, and viewership grew by more than 1,180%.
The interest in Vance’s backstory caused the film version of Hillbilly Elegy to debut in the eighth position on the Netflix Global Top 10 Movies chart the week of the announcement of the veep nominee. The movie had a whopping 4.8 million views.
The organic success of the book as well as the movie is reflective of how people from all across the social, economic, and cultural strata can relate to a story that features the triumph of the human spirit.
Hillbilly Elegy may just end up translating into votes that echo throughout the mountains and valleys of the American landscape.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.