The publisher of Sen. J.D. Vance’s (R-Ohio) memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” is printing hundreds of thousands of additional copies of the book to meet soaring demand since former President Donald Trump picked Vance as his running mate.
A HarperCollins spokesman told The Associated Press that more than 65,000 copies of the memoir have been sold in print, audio and e-book formats since Trump announced his running mate on July 15.
According to the Associated Press, the publisher said it was “printing hundreds of thousands of copies to meet retail demand.”
Hours after Trump’s announcement, “Hillbilly Elegy” shot to the top of Amazon’s best-sellers list.
Published in 2016, the memoir details Vance’s experiences growing up in Middletown, Ohio, surrounded by poverty and drug addiction. The book gained popularity during and after the 2016 election, as political commentators tried to make sense of Trump’s sudden rise in politics.
A Marine Corps veteran and Yale Law School graduate, Vance talks about how Appalachia switched from Democrat to Republican, his own chaotic home life, growing up in a white, working-class neighborhood surrounded by violence and alcohol, and how he continued to pursue his dreams despite few opportunities.
The Hill has reached out to HarperCollins for further comment.
The book was adapted into a film in 2020 by director Ron Howard, starring Gabriel Baso, Glenn Close and Amy Adams.
Two years later, the 39-year-old won a hotly contested primary with President Trump’s endorsement and was elected to his first term as a senator.
Despite his past criticism of the former president, Vance has emerged as one of Trump’s most visible defenders and has been hailed as an articulate voice for the populist conservative movement.
Trump’s choice of Vance as his running mate was quickly criticized by Democrats, who pointed to his shift from his previous “anti-Trump” views and his conservative views on abortion.
