From Hillbilly Elegy to Communion: The American Story JD Vance Was Born to Tell

Yale couldn’t give it to him. Wall Street couldn’t give it to him. And the hills of Appalachia — as much as he loved them — couldn’t give it to him either.

What JD Vance was missing was right in front of him all along.

Now we have two books that, taken together, tell one of the most complete American stories of our generation. The first is Hillbilly Elegy — Vance’s landmark 2016 memoir that shook this country awake. The second, published today, June 16th, 2026, is Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith — his 304-page account of how a boy from Appalachia found his way to the ancient faith of the Catholic Church.

Both books are published by HarperCollins. Both were written by a man who refused to stay down. I have read Hillbilly Elegy — and it is extraordinary. Communion arrived today, and I cannot wait to get into it.

The First Book

Let’s go back to Hillbilly Elegy first — because you cannot understand Communion without it.

Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, shaped by summers in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky. Poverty. A mother in the grip of opioid addiction. A family structure fraying at every seam. And yet — the American DNA was in him. He put on the uniform of the United States Marine Corps, served from 2003 to 2007, including six months in Iraq. He came home, earned his degree from Ohio State, and graduated from Yale Law School in 2013.

Hillbilly Elegy is that story. And it is a landmark book. It does not flinch — the poverty, the addiction, the broken home are all on the page, raw and unvarnished, the kind of America that millions of our fellow citizens know intimately and that far too many of our leaders have never seen.

But here is what makes Hillbilly Elegy more than a heartbreaking story. It is a story about grit. American grit.

Grit is part of the American DNA. It always has been. From the frozen crossing at Valley Forge to the factory floors of the Rust Belt, this country has always produced men and women who refused to be defined by their circumstances. Vance is that story in our time. Hillbilly Elegy raises the question that every generation must answer: what does it actually take for a human being to flourish when everything around him is collapsing? His answer, at least in 2016, was willpower. Determination. The refusal to quit.

He was right. And he was not yet finished learning.

We actually just released a full video on Hillbilly Elegy over on our YouTube channel — if you want to go deeper on Vance’s story before diving into Communion, start there: Watch it here.

As a fellow Buckeye, I’m quite proud of JD Vance and his perseverance throughout his life.

The Second Book

But here is what Hillbilly Elegy could not tell you — because in 2016, Vance did not yet know the ending.

When that book came out, he had drifted from the Christian faith of his childhood. He had gone from the Protestantism of his youth, to atheism in college, to the empty pursuit of prestige at Yale and in the financial industry. He had every credential the secular world could offer. And he will tell you himself:

“The story of how I regained my faith, of course, only happened because I had lost it to begin with. The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root.”

Haven’t millions of children and frankly millions of young adults too—said exactly that same question to themselves — something is missing, something never took root? And didn’t Saint Augustine say precisely this sixteen hundred years ago? “Our heart is restless, until it rests in Thee.” Vance’s question is not new. It is the oldest question in the human soul.

In 2019, Vance converted to Catholicism at St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, Ohio. He credits his new faith with giving him something Yale never could — a sense of purpose. A reason. A foundation.

Even Yale University — one of the most elite institutions on earth — could not give one searching young man a sense of purpose. The Catholic Church, over two thousand years old, did. And Vance put it simply and beautifully: “I’m a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true. By sharing my journey, I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

Beautiful. Even, dare I say, majestic.

Why This Matters Right Now

You see, Vance is not alone. Not even close.

Catholicism is experiencing a resurgence in the United States unlike anything in recent memory. Young Americans — millennials, Gen Z — are rejecting the secularism that emptied the pews. They are coming home. And right now, for the first time in the entire history of the Church, an American-born pope — Pope Leo XIV — presides over the Vatican.

The first time. Ever. Let that sink in.

Now connect this nugget to what the great one Mark Levin argued in his epic Liberty and Tyranny — that conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles. And what are those founding principles? That our rights come not from government, not from Yale, but from our Creator. Unalienable. God-given.

JD Vance lived that truth in reverse. He lost God and found the emptiness. He found God and found the purpose. His life is proof — living, breathing proof — that the founding framework was right all along.

• Hillbilly Elegy showed us the poverty and grit of the American soul.

• Communion shows us what fills that soul when it finally comes home.

A Benediction to 250

I have read Hillbilly Elegy and I am picking up Communion today — and I encourage you to do the same. Share them with a young person who thinks faith is irrelevant. Share them with someone who believes a Yale diploma is the answer. Share them with a skeptic who hasn’t thought about God in twenty years.

And then give thanks.

Give thanks to Almighty God for providential blessings that keep appearing in this American story — even when we cannot see them. Give thanks that a boy from the hollows of Appalachia, a Marine, a searcher, found his way back. Give thanks that millions of young Americans are finding their way back alongside him. That is living a flourishing life.

America is not finished. She is never finished. She is always striving, always searching, always reaching toward something higher than herself. And in less than two weeks, on July 4th, 2026, she turns 250 years old.

Two hundred and fifty years.

That is the exceptional nature of our national character.

That is a flourishing life for both JD and our country.

Most importantly, keep fighting the good fight.