J.D. Vance’s controversial memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, has been unceremoniously dropped by its German publisher after the far-Right Ohio Senator accepted the nomination to serve as Donald Trump’s VP running mate on the 2024 presidential election ticket.
Newsweek reported on the news that originally broke from the German publication, Der Spiegel, and confirmed that the Berlin-based publisher Ullstein has refused to continue to produce or carry the German-translated version of Vance’s infamous book, due to his “political change” and deep-seated connection to Donald Trump.
According to the Der Spiegel report, Ullstein Publishing House, one of the largest publishing companies in Germany, said that Vance now represents a “demagogic, exclusionary policy.”
A Google translation of the original German report quotes the publisher’s spokesperson saying of the decision, “At the time of publication, the book made a valuable contribution to understanding the disintegration of U.S. society. Vance had 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.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“He is now officially acting on his side and represents an aggressive, demagogic, exclusionary policy,” the Ullstein publishing house stated.
Ullstein confirmed that they would not be renewing their contract with Vance.
At the time of publishing his memoir, J.D. was a little-known Ivy League graduate, claiming to hail from Appalachia, who had already changed his given name and once referred to Donald Trump as “America’s Hitler.”
Only 8 short years later, J.D. Vance has morphed into the MAGA monster we all know him as now and his book sales have seen a significant international uptick as a result.
Der Spiegel reports that only the English version of Hillbilly Elegy is now seeing sales in Germany, as the translated version is now officially considered “out of print” and the original publishing company has no intention of ever making it available again.
YES Publishing, a company based out of Texas, has since picked up the rights to Vance’s book, and co-founder Oliver Kuhn has said he believes the German translation will be an immediate bestseller, according to the German publication.
YES Publishing currently boasts a catalog full of mostly self-help and popular science books.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
