Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose

*Starred Review* In 2013, Joe Biden's son, Beau, was diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer. A vibrant man in his early forties, Beau was diagnosed at the height of his professional and personal powers. As attorney general for the state of Delaware, Beau was on a political path that could have taken him to the state's governor's mansion and, ultimately, the White House. A husband and father of two young children, his family's future was even more essential to him than his civic responsibilities. And, of course, as the son of vice president Joe Biden, Beau's relationship with his father was the epitome of symbiotic closeness. Set against the backdrop of the final years of his vice presidency, Biden's memoir of his son's battle with cancer is a spare yet sturdy chronicle of how one family, one very public family, coped with the reality of a monumental health crisis as privately and seamlessly as possible. Having endured the deaths of his wife and daughter when he was 30, Biden knew the galvanizing sorrow that awaited his family and the gnawing anticipation of repeating that smothering pain was something Biden struggled to keep at bay.Biden weaves the narrative of Beau's decline with the global events that equally required his attention. Violence in the Ukraine and Iraq mirrors the combative forces taking over Beau's body. For every battlefield skirmish lost, there was an equal fight against an aggressive tumor. For every diplomatic dustup, there was a backsliding on Beau's road to recovery. Biden is that rarity among politicians, a man of his word. So when Beau implored him to stay engaged with his life's work, there was no doubt that Biden would continue to meet his commitments and accept new challenges. Given its dual focus on his political accomplishments, some may see this memoir as a preamble to a future presidential run. To do so would be to diminish its intent. Written without an ounce of self-pity, it serves instead as an homage to a man Biden admired above all others and offers a passionate ray of hope to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one with the reassuring message that there is, indeed, a way through their grief.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2018 Booklist

America's 47th vice president revisits his son Beaus's 2015 death from cancer while burnishing his own political capital in this heartfelt but not uncalculated memoir. Biden (Promises to Keep) begins in late 2014, when his son Beau fought a harrowing battle with brain cancer through deepening disability, fleeting rallies, and experimental treatments. Biden tells this tragic story with genuine pathos, but in between the family gatherings and hospital vigils, he spotlights his central role in coping with public crises, including Russia's incursion into Ukraine, ISIS's rise, and domestic flare-ups of racial violence. Biden emerges as a statesman both steely-eyed ("I don't think you have a soul," he tells Vladimir Putin) and dependable ("'Joe,' said the new prime minister of Iraq, 'I need your help'") while he expresses sympathy for ordinary folks; he even gives a policeman's widow his private phone number to call when she feels sad. Threaded throughout is Biden's agonized vacillation over a 2016 presidential run, complete with encomiums to his fitness for the presidency and an outline of the platform he would have run on had he not decided against it. This sincere recollection of loss intermittently feels like a 2020 campaign biography. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* In 2013, Joe Biden's son, Beau, was diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer. A vibrant man in his early forties, Beau was diagnosed at the height of his professional and personal powers. As attorney general for the state of Delaware, Beau was on a political path that could have taken him to the state's governor's mansion and, ultimately, the White House. A husband and father of two young children, his family's future was even more essential to him than his civic responsibilities. And, of course, as the son of vice president Joe Biden, Beau's relationship with his father was the epitome of symbiotic closeness. Set against the backdrop of the final years of his vice presidency, Biden's memoir of his son's battle with cancer is a spare yet sturdy chronicle of how one family, one very public family, coped with the reality of a monumental health crisis as privately and seamlessly as possible. Having endured the deaths of his wife and daughter when he was 30, Biden knew the galvanizing sorrow that awaited his family and the gnawing anticipation of repeating that smothering pain was something Biden struggled to keep at bay.Biden weaves the narrative of Beau's decline with the global events that equally required his attention. Violence in the Ukraine and Iraq mirrors the combative forces taking over Beau's body. For every battlefield skirmish lost, there was an equal fight against an aggressive tumor. For every diplomatic dustup, there was a backsliding on Beau's road to recovery. Biden is that rarity among politicians, a man of his word. So when Beau implored him to stay engaged with his life's work, there was no doubt that Biden would continue to meet his commitments and accept new challenges. Given its dual focus on his political accomplishments, some may see this memoir as a preamble to a future presidential run. To do so would be to diminish its intent. Written without an ounce of self-pity, it serves instead as an homage to a man Biden admired above all others and offers a passionate ray of hope to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one with the reassuring message that there is, indeed, a way through their grief. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

America's 47th vice president revisits his son Beaus's 2015 death from cancer while burnishing his own political capital in this heartfelt but not uncalculated memoir. Biden (Promises to Keep) begins in late 2014, when his son Beau fought a harrowing battle with brain cancer through deepening disability, fleeting rallies, and experimental treatments. Biden tells this tragic story with genuine pathos, but in between the family gatherings and hospital vigils, he spotlights his central role in coping with public crises, including Russia's incursion into Ukraine, ISIS's rise, and domestic flare-ups of racial violence. Biden emerges as a statesman both steely-eyed ("I don't think you have a soul," he tells Vladimir Putin) and dependable ("?‘Joe,' said the new prime minister of Iraq, ‘I need your help'?") while he expresses sympathy for ordinary folks; he even gives a policeman's widow his private phone number to call when she feels sad. Threaded throughout is Biden's agonized vacillation over a 2016 presidential run, complete with encomiums to his fitness for the presidency and an outline of the platform he would have run on had he not decided against it. This sincere recollection of loss intermittently feels like a 2020 campaign biography. (Nov.)