Elites tend to see our social crisis in terms of stagnation or inequality. J.D. Vance writes powerfully about the real people who are kept out of sight by academic abstractions.

J.D. Vance grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served in Iraq. A graduate of Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he has contributed to the National Review and is a principal at a leading Silicon Valley investment firm. Vance lives in San Francisco with his wife and two dogs.

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate.