... at once harrowing, relentless and a determined exercise in trying to seize his own narrative from the clutches of the Republicans and the press.

... a vague sense of magical destiny and a dose of inexplicable charm.

It is at times a harrowing journey. Readers who make it all the way through may feel they have completed something of a 12-step rehab program themselves. The details at times make one feel exposed to something like degradation porn.

... while the book affords the reader a harrowing play-by-play of his descent into depravity, that isn't what shocks the system the most. Instead, it's the ability to gaze (and, occasionally, gawk) inside the beating heart of the Biden family.

This memoir. Holy hell.

... a book about finding light in darkness and hope in suffering.

Glossed over by Beautiful Things is that while his overseas venture may have ended up at the heart of Donald Trump’s first impeachment, it also discomforted Barack Obama’s White House. Confronted with Hunter’s foray into Ukraine and the energy business, the 44th president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, declined to express support.