Melanie Kramer-Torok

“I don't give a damn about geography, but I'll note that Vance has transcended one of the most authentically Appalachian experiences of them all: watching someone with tired ideas about race and culture get famous by selling cheap stereotypes abou the region.”
― Elizabeth Catte, What You Are Getting Wrong about Appalachia

“To be a woman is to be warbound, knowing all the odds are stacked against you.”
― Amanda Lovelace, The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One

“Using Appalachians to fill made-to-order constituencies, anchored by race, is a tired game. Social upheaval, from the Civil War to the civil rights movement, often triggered, and still does, a larger fascination with Appalachia. These projections do a disservice to both Appalachians and other economically and socially disadvantaged groups by pitting their concerns against on another instead of connecting them.”
― Elizabeth Catte

“You might be asking, “Why does Hillbilly Elegy sound kind of like the Moynihan Report?” One reason is that white Appalachians became persona non grata after the War on Poverty failed.”
― Elizabeth Catte, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia