BOOK REVIEW: Beautiful Things: A Memoir by Hunter Biden
| Publisher: Gallery Books |
Synopsis
When he was two years old, Hunter Biden was badly injured in a car accident that killed his mother and baby sister. In 2015, he suffered the devastating loss of his beloved big brother, Beau, who died of brain cancer at the age of forty-six. These hardships were compounded by the collapse of his marriage and a years-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
In Beautiful Things, Hunter recounts his descent into substance abuse and his tortuous path to sobriety. The story ends with where Hunter is today—a sober married man with a new baby, finally able to appreciate the beautiful things in life.
Review:
I didn't know that much about Hunter Biden before reading this book, I knew there was some controversy about Ukraine but never really paid it much mind. (I would love to find one of those Where's Hunter shirts though seeing as I have a child with that name - it made me smirk every time he mentioned them) However when I heard about this book and how it was an honest account of his addiction I had to grab it. I have been surrounded by people with addiction issues my whole life, from my father, to my mothers ex boyfriends to people I've dated to people I've married. I have always been one who doesn't feel that you should hide or be ashamed of this or the people who have addictions. There are more people out there that have addiction issues than we even know. By not hiding by not looking down on them we can look at the problem and help. One of the biggest things I've learned about addiction is the shame surrounding it. Bringing it out in the open and owning it helps take away the shame.
That being said Hunter Biden has my utmost respect. He laid it all out there. The good, the bad and the ugly....although there isn't much good. It was a hard read for me as it gave me a peak inside the head of an addict, it was heartbreaking to see the toll Beau's death had on him and the spiral this brilliant man took down into the depths of hell.
It truly is a miracle that he came out and I'm sure it hasn't been easy but with the love of his family I think he will make it. This is a brave account of a man who was seen as having so much yet had such a hole inside him that he couldn't cope with life and turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to survive. Its also a love story between two brothers, the grief they both shared at losing their mother and sister, and the bond they formed in surviving. Losing Beau was like losing a part of himself and Hunter almost didn't survive it.
Well written and moving, if you have anyone struggling with addiction in your life this will give you a peak at what they are going through, while it might not be exactly the same the loss of self, the loss of control and the utter helplessness of being a slave to whatever drug is pretty universal.
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