''Beautiful Things: A Memoir'' is a 2021 memoir by American lawyer and businessman

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February4, 1970) is an American attorney and businessman. He is the second son of former president Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chine ...

, who is the second son of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and his first wife,

Neilia Hunter Biden Neilia Hunter Biden (née Hunter; July 28, 1942 – December 18, 1972) was an American teacher and the first wife of Joe Biden, who later became the 46th president of the United States. She died in a car crash with their one-year-old daughter, ...

. It was published on April 6, 2021, by

Gallery Books Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press. Jen Bergstrom is the Senior Vice President and Publisher. ...

, an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer Elisabeth Egan described the book as "equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict's howl".

Synopsis

In ''Beautiful Things'', Hunter Biden writes about his family and recounts his history of

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

and path to sobriety. He discusses the grief and trauma he experienced following the death of his brother,

Beau Biden Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (February 3, 1969 – May 30, 2015) was an American politician, lawyer, and officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army, Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmingt ...

, and the 1972 car accident in which he was injured and his mother, Neilia, and his sister, Naomi, were killed. He also defends his time on the board of the Ukrainian company

Burisma Burisma Holdings Limited () was a holding company based in Kyiv, Ukraine, for a group of energy exploration and production companies. It was founded in 2002 and registered in Limassol, Cyprus, until being dissolved in 2023. It was one of the lar ...

. Biden told CBS that his

cocaine addiction Cocaine dependence is a neurological disorder that is characterized by withdrawal symptoms upon cessation from cocaine use. It also often coincides with cocaine addiction which is a biopsychosocial disorder characterized by persistent use of ...

reached a zenith in 2015 after the death of his brother.

Publication and promotion

''Beautiful Things'' was published in

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

formats on April 6, 2021, by

, an imprint of

. An audiobook, narrated by Biden, was released the same day. Biden promoted the book with a series of media appearances, including a ''

CBS Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by Ch ...

'' interview by Tracy Smith and a ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

'' interview by Anthony Mason. He also appeared on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' and ''

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''. The book debuted at number four on ''The New York Times'' nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending April 10, 2021. It also ranked number 130 on the Amazon Best Sellers and sold 10,000 copies in its first week.

Reception

Marianne Szegedy-Maszak of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called it "at once harrowing, relentless and a determined exercise in trying to seize his own narrative from the clutches of the Republicans and the press." Seija Rankin of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' praised Biden's "raw" depiction of addiction; Rankin, however, believed the book's narrative felt rushed and included unnecessary details that felt scripted.

References

{{Joe Biden 2021 non-fiction books English-language non-fiction books American memoirs Books about cocaine Books about Joe Biden Debut books Gallery Books books Hunter Biden Literature about substance abuse Memoirs about drugs