Beautiful Things ★★★☆☆
- Sophie Bjorkquist
- Jun 13, 2021
- 2 min read
Beautiful Things (Click Here To Buy)
★★★☆☆
Beautiful Things by Hunter Biden is a memoir about loss and addiction written by President Joe Biden’s son.
I read this as an audiobook checked out from the library and read by the author.
The Bidens have been through a lot. I don’t know how much you know but in 1972 Hunter and his brother Beau (three and 4 years old), their mom and 1 year old sister were in a car crash that killed the mom and sister. This is Hunter’s first memory. From there, Hunter describes the deep and important relationship with his brother. When Beau was 46 he died from brain cancer. This destroyed Hunter who, already having a problem with drinking, spiraled deeper. The drinking led to crack use, which only made things worse.
The first part of this book about the Biden family history including the car crash and Beau’s death was devastating and powerful. Then, Hunter tries to explain some of his business choices that were attacked by Trump, which I don’t care about. Finally, Hunter dives into his addiction. This part was too detailed and romanticized for Hunter’s well-being, in my opinion, and at one point he even stops and says talking about this is triggering. Additionally there was so much privilege wrapped up in Hunter’s story that was unaddressed and I think he could really benefit from taking a good look at. The book ends with Hunter finding “the love of his life” and marrying her 6 days later and getting clean, end of story. I’m concerned because it often doesn’t work like that - relationships in early sobriety have a tendency to create a new kind of dependency and detract from building positive coping skills, self-discovery and learning how to be sober. Obviously I wish Hunter nothing but the best but I just hope he builds his sobriety on more than just his wife and new baby.
If you liked Beautiful Things, I also recommend Saving Justice by James Comey, A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, and The Autobiography of Gucci Mane by Gucci Mane.
HPPY RDNG
Ms.Bjork
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