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By Jordan King
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Vice President JD Vance's new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, has been flooded with negative reviews on Barnes & Noble's website, with one person calling it "unreadable."
The book was published on Tuesday and explores how Vance "strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith." Vance's first book, 2016's Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, was a bestselling autobiography.
On the bookseller's website, 25 of 28 reviews of Vance's new book gave it a one-star rating.
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A reviewer known as Kelly P. wrote: "This book literally reads like the garbage can I'm getting ready to throw it into. There's no way JD actually wrote this. I also find it comical that the Pope doesn't even recognize him as a Catholic lol 0-10 would recommend!"
Meanwhile, Evelyn B. wrote: "Poorly written unbelievable trash written by the most vile and despised humans on this earth. His claim to Catholicism is a meager grab at trying to convey worthiness in a world where the denomination has severely rejected him and the Pope himself denounces his fascist agenda. I hope his book ends up on a list of far right propaganda for future generations to gawk at and reference as part of this embarrassing era of American politics."
There were also positive reviews, with Alyssa M. giving it five stars. She wrote: "I'm not Catholic, but I enjoyed the message throughout the book. Quick read for me. I would recommend the book."
Newsweek contacted Vance's office for comment via email outside normal working hours.
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Vance's Catholic Themes Draw Scrutiny
Communion has faced scrutiny over its portrayal of Catholicism, with questions arising even before publication.
The memoir—focused on Vance's conversion to Catholicism—previously drew attention for its cover, which features a Methodist church rather than a Catholic one, prompting criticism over its religious framing.
The church on the cover is the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Elk Creek, Virginia, People reported in April.
Others have argued that Vance's political actions contravene with Catholic teachings. Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy who is running for Congress in Manhattan's 12th District, previously said about the book, "As Jesus famously said: 'Deport thy neighbor.'"
This was a common theme in the reviews on Barnes & Noble's website. Karen S. wrote: "JD's take on faith and religion is at odds with his behavior and speech in his everyday life. I don't recommend this book. Glad to have public libraries so I didn't have to buy this book to see what he had to say."
Last year, Pope Francis seemingly criticized one of the ways Vance invoked Catholicism, when the vice president pointed to ordo amoris—a medieval Catholic concept outlining a hierarchy of duties—to defend the administration's "America First" immigration stance, arguing that obligations to family, community and nation should come before those to people abroad.
Francis, who died last April, appeared to push back on that interpretation in a February 10 letter, stressing that ordo amoris should not be framed as a system that ranks some groups above others. "Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups," he wrote, adding, that the true ordo amoris "is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the good Samaritan ... the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception."
What Vance Has Said About Faith Influence
In Communion, Vance traces his journey from a Protestant upbringing to atheism and ultimately to Catholicism in 2019. The book presents faith as a defining influence on his views on family, community and public life.
Vance has long been outspoken about the role faith plays in his personal life and public positions.
Last year, in an interview with The New York Times' Ross Douthat, on his podcast Interesting Times, Vance said: "When you really believe something, it ought to influence how you think about the way that you do your job, the way that you spend time with your wife and your children. It just kind of necessarily informs how I live my life."
This is a developing story. More to follow.
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