“Hillbilly Elegy” by JD Vance will soon be published again in German. The publisher has changed. Ullstein now finds Vance problematic. The new licensee is receiving a lot of orders.
The German translation of the memoirs of the US politician JD Vance was recently out of print – now the new edition is a sales hit days before its release. “We have printed 20,000 copies and assume that we will sell them all immediately,” a spokesman for the Munich-based publisher Yes Publishing told the German Press Agency about the new success of the bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy”.
Although the official release date of the new translation is only August 15, the first books will be “arrived and delivered immediately” on July 30, the spokesperson announced. This is because everything has to be done at such short notice. “Normally, the delivery date is set months in advance. But we want to meet the huge demand as quickly as possible.” The e-book will be released on July 31.
Previous publisher waived license extension
The US Republicans only officially named Senator Vance as their vice-candidate for the US presidential election in November in mid-July. This makes him Donald Trump’s right-hand man.
At the beginning of his presidency, Vance was an outspoken critic, calling Trump “dangerous.” However, this opinion had changed when he himself stepped into the political spotlight six years later – and courted Trump as a supporter.
Previous editions of “Hillbilly Elegy” were published by Ullstein Verlag in Berlin, which allowed the license to expire. They are critical of Vance’s change. In the book, the politician offered an authentic portrayal of growing up in the impoverished white working class, and he also repeatedly distanced himself from Donald Trump at the time, said an Ullstein spokeswoman in response to a request from “Spiegel” in retrospect. “He now officially acts on his side and represents an aggressive, demagogic, exclusionary policy.”
In response to a dpa query, the publisher also added: “The decision to let the German-language rights, which expire in 2024, expire and not to reprint the book had long been made when JD Vance was nominated as a candidate for the vice presidency. Last week, we simply decided against extending the rights on our part due to the temporarily increased demand for the book and reprinting it for economic reasons.”
Understanding the political situation in America
Yes Publishing did not want to comment on Ullstein’s line. However, the spokesperson stressed: “Anyone who wants to know who this vice presidential candidate is, where he comes from, and anyone who wants to understand the current political situation in America should read this book.”
In the work about his family, which was made into a film by Ron Howard in 2020, JD Vance tells a story of the failed rise and resignation of a marginalized section of the population in the American hinterland.