This memoir by Hunter Biden is most remarkable for its extremely courageous disclosures about the depths of depravity, despair, and loss in drug and alcohol addiction. It is particularly poignant in that Hunter is the President's son, and how embarrassing all of this revelation must be for him and for the President. I read this book because I have loved ones in the throes of addiction, and I wanted to better understand the disease from inside the mind of an addict. And I don't see how anyone could have been more transparent in this disclosure than Hunter has been. Additionally, he shows how this disease can unwittingly take seed in junior high and high school when parents very often don't expect it and could not prevent or control it if they did expect it. I think that Hunter took on way too much as a young husband and father, and he was exhausted when his brother died, upon which spiraled his disease. And he had never dealt with the deaths of his Mommy, as he calls her, and his baby sister, by the time that, Beau, his brother, died. So it all became too much for this sensitive artist-man. He had not ever really given himself credit for all that he had accomplished--mostly praising his father and brother. And coming from this very service-oriented, political family, it would have been unthinkable for Hunter to have studied art or painting and writing, in particular, which is probably what he should have done. I was struck not only by the depth of candor of these revelations, but also by what a good writer Hunter is, in a casual, easy flow of words that made me look forward to reading his book each night before bed. Partly, one is also struck by the words in Al-Anon, a group for the relatives and friends of alcoholics and addicts, which state, "There but for the grace of God, go I," and we are grateful to be sitting cozily, safely in bed reading of Hunter's harrowing journey into Hell and back. And we root for him, even once we have finished the book, because we know how hard that commitment to sobriety is, and because we are concerned for his long-term health after his self-tortured odyssey. My one criticism of this memoir is that I did not feel that Hunter gave his first wife, Kathleen, enough credit for parenting their three daughters so well while he checked out into drug and alcohol oblivion. And as a woman, I also did not appreciate that he appears to point a finger of blame at her for having once said that "she would never forgive him." She had a truly hard row to hoe also, while he was missing in action, yes in the throes of his disease, but also, indulging his illness, rather than fighting like hell to get well. Of course his first wife had fallen out of love with him, and who could blame her for her own anger and being made to do All of the nitty gritty parenting while Hunter was off trying to "disappear"? Kathleen was given short shrift, and blame was cast upon her, when Hunter needs to own ALL of his illness--ALL of it, and not hide behind a shadow of guilt upon Kathleen. But overall, this is a good read, and I highly recommend it.
Sunny
Melissa
Serenity...