NEW YORK (AP) – Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden and a permanent target for conservatives, has a memoir that will come out on April 6.
The book is called “Beautiful Things” and will focus on young Biden’s well-publicized struggles against substance abuse, according to Gallery Books, a Simon & Schuster brand. Acquired in the fall of 2019, “Beautiful Things” was kept secret even as Biden’s business became a fixation of then President Donald Trump and others during the election and his finances a matter of investigation by the Department of Justice.
“Beautiful Things” circulated among several authors and includes early praise from Stephen King, Dave Eggers and Anne Lamott.
“In his distressing and compulsively readable memories, Hunter Biden proves once again that anyone – even the son of a President of the United States – can take a ride on the pink horse through the nightmare alley,” King writes in his synopsis. “Biden remembers everything and tells everything with a bravery that is both moving and very beautiful. He starts with a question: Where’s Hunter? The answer is that he is in this book, the good, the bad and the beautiful. “
In an excerpt published by Gallery, Biden writes in his book: “I come from a family formed by tragedies and linked by a remarkable and unbreakable love”.
During one of last fall’s presidential debates, Joe Biden defended his son from Trump’s attacks.
“My son, like many people, like many people you know at home, had a drug problem,” said the Democratic candidate. “He overtook him. He fixed it. He worked on it and I am proud of him. I am proud of my son. “
Hunter Biden, who turned 51 on Thursday, is the president’s oldest surviving son, who lost his first wife and 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, in a car accident in 1972, and son Beau Biden, of cancer in the brain in 2015. Hunter’s book title refers to an expression that he and his brother would use with each other after Beau’s diagnosis, with the aim of emphasizing what was important in life.
Hunter Biden is a lawyer and ex-lobbyist whose work helped lead to Trump’s first impeachment. Biden joined the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma in 2014, at the time when his father, then vice president of the United States, helped to conduct the Obama administration’s foreign policy in that region. Trump and others insisted that Biden was exploiting his father’s name and raised unfounded accusations of corruption. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump in 2019 after learning that he had pressured the President of Ukraine to announce that he was investigating the Bidens. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.
Last December, Hunter Biden confirmed that the Justice Department was investigating his tax affairs and The Associated Press subsequently reported that he had received a subpoena asking about his interaction with various business entities. Although Trump made it publicly clear that he wanted a special lawyer to handle the investigation, then attorney general William Barr did not name him. Biden denied any wrongdoing.
The financial terms for “Beautiful Things”, written in collaboration with author and journalist Drew Jubera, were not released. Biden and his publisher are likely to face criticism from Republicans for his memoirs, although the books of presidential family members are nothing new. During Trump’s presidency, son Donald Trump Jr. released two books, “Triggered” and “Liberal Privilege”.
New York publishers often accept authors with a wide range of political views, and Simon & Schuster released books by Trump and Sean Hannity, along with anti-Trump bestsellers such as “The Room Where It Happened” by the former security adviser National John Bolton and “Too Much and Never Enough” by presidential niece Mary Trump.
The publisher signed a book last fall from a top Trump supporter in Washington, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, but abandoned it due to Hawley’s support. for the Jan. 6 protest that led to the violent siege of the United States Capitol by Trump supporters who mistakenly believed the president had been re-elected.